Many Projects, 1 Partner
by Kiawna
Summary: Chapter 11 up! Joey and Seto are in 7 of 8 classes together. It is just before winter break. All classes are required to do projects. What happens when they need partners? All revised chapters are up
1. First of 5 projects

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YUGIOH!

Orli: So you are finally writing a Yu-Gi-Oh fic huh? It took you long enough.

Kiawna glared at her Pegasus muse Well.if you inspired me a little more like you are suppose to, maybe I would have wrote it sooner.

Yami: I have two things to say. 1. I wouldn't get Orli mad if I were you. Remember what happened last time. He took off for a while and you didn't even get to finish your Get Backer story. Kiawna sighed knowing he was right The second thing.why isn't this story about Yugi and me? Or why doesn't it have more of me in it.

Kiawna: Ok. 1. I like the pairing of Joey/Seto better and 2. I will write one with you and Yugi eventually.

Yami: Only if you find your muse.

Kiawna: Huh?

Yami pointed behind her, because that was where Orli was

Kiawna: Oh crap. ORLI! Sighs ok. Turns to readers sorry about this. I'll let you get to the story now. It's only one chapter right now.but I might write more.only if you want me too and only if I can find my muse. Waves and scampers off to find him /br

Day one: First Project of 5

Joey Wheeler walked into the hallways of Domino High on a Monday morning. He never did like Mondays. He sighed and walked towards his locker. He stopped about half way there because he noticed a tall, brown haired, skinny boy. He knew who it was without seeing the boys' eyes. Joey smiled. He loved the color of Seto Kaiba's eyes. They were a deep sapphire. They were truly beautiful. Kaiba didn't know, but Joey had always admired him.

Kaiba seemed to have everything Joey didn't. Family, money, happiness, and a multi-billion dollar company. Okay, so Joey did have family, but he didn't consider it anything special. His father was a drunken deadbeat who beat on him whenever he came home late, mentioned his sister or whenever he was bored. Kaiba was lucky. He had Mokuba, his younger brother to take care of and love. Joey had Serenity, but his mother took her to live with her when they were younger. The money thing was obvious. Kaiba was the CEO of a major business, while Joey had to support his father as well as himself with the job that Yugi's grandfather had given him. Joey was lucky that they weren't living on the streets. Joey was only really happy when he was around his friends. Since Kaiba had money and power and family that loved him, what wasn't there to be happy about?

Joey coughed back a sob as he looked at his pathetic life. He wanted to be friends with Kaiba, however Kaiba was Yugi's rival who was his best friend. Kaiba always went out of his way to insult Joey when he ran into him and his friends. He usually ignored Tea, Tristan, and Ryou. Hell, he even ignored Yugi a couple of times. Joey never understood why Kaiba had called him mutt or puppy. Joey didn't even resemble a dog. He wished Kaiba would stop though. The 'nickname' brought up bad memories.

The bell rang to symbolize the start of the first class. Joey sighed and hurried to his Comparative Civilizations class, which, coincidentally; Kaiba was in as well. He sat at the back of the class, like he did with every other class, while Joey sat in the middle. The teacher came in and started rambling about an end-of-the-unit project that was to be done in pairs. They had just finished studying Ancient Egypt so they had a choice of researching a God or Pharaoh. Joey sniggered to himself. 'I could always pick Pharaoh Yami. I'm sure Yami wouldn't mind helping me with it.' He thought. 'Although, it would depend on who my partner was. If I am somehow partnered with Kaiba, Gods forbid, then he wouldn't help. He can't stand Kaiba. Well at least I don't think he can stand him. He might just be putting on a brave act for Yugi.'

"I will be partnering you as I see fit." Mr. Kyoto said. "I will pair the stronger students with the weaker ones." Joey and the rest of the class moaned. "I am only doing this to help everyone. They won't be marked that hard. In fact, they will probably be marked fairly easily, but don't hand in a piece of poster board with the name of your God or Pharaoh and a picture and expect to get an A." He looked around before continuing. "Does anyone have any questions?" Silence, "Alright then, let's begin." He began to read out names. Two by two people were moving to sit beside their assigned partners and begin to discuss what they wanted to do.

Joey had a gut feeling that he was about to be paired with Kaiba. 'Please don't pair me with Kaiba.' He thought, 'Don't pair me with Kaiba.' He kept saying this, however it didn't work. "Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Wheeler." Both boys groaned, but Kaiba made no move to sit beside Joey, so Joey went and sat beside him.

"Well Kaiba?" Joey asked, "What do you want to do?" Kaiba closed his book, which he had been reading the whole time the teacher was talking, and didn't say anything. 'Gee, this is going to be fun.' He thought, then pressed. "Well?" Joey honestly didn't care what god or pharaoh they did.

"Doesn't matter to me, mutt." Kaiba replied without looking at him. Joey did his best not to retort, because that would only satisfy Kaiba, like it always did. Instead he remained calm and told Kaiba what he would like to do. "Fine, I'll tell you the Gods I would like to research; Anubis, Seth, Horus or Bass. Pharaohs; Ramses, Nefertiti or Cleopatra." Joey waited for Kaiba to decide.

When Kaiba didn't answer for a bit Joey tried again. "Well, I gave you the choices I would like to research. What about you?" Kaiba finally turned around and glared at Joey. He returned the glare with his honey colored eyes. "I said it didn't matter, mutt. Just pick one or two and I will decide if I like the choices."

"Fine. Seth or Anubis." Joey snarled. Kaiba looked away from Joey and thought about it. After about 5 minutes, a small grin spread across his face. "Alright puppy. We will do Anubis." Once again Joey refused to retaliate, but instead asked curiously, "Why?"

"Well," Kaiba began. "If we study Anubis, we might actually figure out where you came from." That had done it. In a low, threatening sort of voice Joey retaliated, "Look, moneybags. I am not in the mood for insults, nor do I have the patience to deal with this." A smirk played its way across Kaiba's face, "Gee puppy, you don't want to get to upset. I might have to call the vet to get you put down."

Joey couldn't stand it, instead he said a little quieter, with his head down, "Why don't you, my life would probably be better."

The smile faded from Kaiba's face and he just looked at Joey, not knowing what to say. Which was a first. 'Why would he say something like that?' He thought. 'Usually the puppy puts up a bigger battle before losing. And he has always seemed happy no matter what.'

He didn't know what it was, but being around Joey always made me feel like the world was a fun place to be. He always found a way to encourage his friends, even when their situation seemed impossible to get out of. That is probably how Yugi, or should he say Yami, always wins his duels. Sure, Kaiba would love to have friends like that. Yea, he had a great little brother, but Mokuba could only do so much. He looked away from Joey.

'Insulting Joey is the only way I figure I can talk to him without letting him know my true feelings.' He thought. 'I call Joey a puppy because he resembles one in many ways. Mostly Golden Retriever X Yellow Lab, because his eyes were the color of a Golden Retrievers, his hair resembled a Yellow Lab's, although he wasn't sure if it was as soft, it sure looked it. He was always happy.' Kaiba glanced back at Joey, then added, 'At least when he was at school or around his friends.'

Joey considered nearly everybody a friend. Least, that was what it looked like to Kaiba. 'I wonder if he would ever consider me a friend.' He doubted that would ever happen and he sighed. "Well, we have decided to do Anubis, now we have to decide where and when." He said, trying, but failing to ignore the puppy's last comment.

Joey looked up at him with somewhat moist eyes. He looked like he needed to be hugged and comforted. Kaiba would have to figure out why he said what he did later. "My place is out of the question." Joey said quietly, not looking up from where he was staring.

I sighed, "I guess we will have to do it at my place, or the library."

Joey looked at Kaiba and he looked back into his honey eyes. "Are you sure you want a mutt like me in your mansion." He said sarcastically, "because I know dogs aren't allowed in the library."

'What is up with him today?' Kaiba thought, not caring about how concerned he felt. 'He never referred to himself as a mutt or dog, even after I insulted him. Something is up, and I intend to find out.' He continued to look at Joey, then replied, "I'm sure you won't make a mess." Kaiba said.

Joey looked up just in time to see Kaiba attempt a sneer, but failed. 'Hmm, I wonder what's up with that. I guess there is something else I have to find out then.'

"What time then?" Kaiba asked. "I'm good for anytime after 6pm."

'Great,' Joey thought. 'I'll come over to your place looking like a giant plum.' He sighed at the thought, then replied. "Ok, that is fine by me. Tonight then?"

"That sounds fine by me, pup." Kaiba replied. Joey didn't know why, but he wasn't in the mood to try and keep anything bundled up inside. It was lucky for him that at that moment the bell for the next class rang. He quickly gathered up his stuff and left the room, heading to the bathroom before Kaiba could see the silent tears starting in his eyes.

Kiawna: sighs well, I haven't found Orli, but he'll turn up.sets some sugar cubes a net muahahaha! He will never suspect this as a trap.

Yami: Well, at least you mentioned Yugi and me. Tears form Thank you! He glomps her

Kiawna: Gah! Yami! She nearly falls backwards Your welcome.now say your lines. Passes him a script

Yami: Ok, reads If you want her to post anymore chapters, then you must review. Because she sees no point in posting a story if no one is reading it.

Kiawna: Thank you. Hands him a Dark Magician Girl doll Please review people.


	2. Truth, Math and Lunch

::Kiawna and Yami are hiding behind a desk::

Yami ::whispers:: Are you sure he won't know its a trap?

Kiawna: Shh.no, he isn't very bright you know. Oh.Here he comes, be quiet.

Orli: ::observing the sugar cubes:: Mmm.sugar. ::grabs one and the net falls on him:: HEY!

Kiawna: ::laughing hysterically:: HA! Now help me with this chapter or no more sugar for you.

Orli: ::sighs:: Fine. Just get me outta here.

Kiawna: ::removes net:: Ok, what will be in this chapter?

Orli: ::shrugs:: they will have to read to find out.

Kiawna: Sounds good. All right people, I'll let you go read.

The Truth, Math and Lunch

"Fine by me, pup." Kaiba simply stated and started gathering his stuff up. He tried not to notice Joey quickly leaving the class. 'Damn.' He thought, ' What the hell is up with him today.' Kaiba scolded himself for sounding so concerned. It was the puppy. Joey was nothing more to him, just another part of his day.

Kaiba inwardly sighed. He knew he was lying. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to feel something for Joey. He headed out of the classroom and looked for Joey. 'At the very least I should see why it upset him. If I have to I'll.' He hesitated before he added, 'Apologize.'

There was five minutes before the next class started. Kaiba made his way to the boy's bathroom as quickly as possible. It was the one place he figured Joey would go. The guys it seemed never went to the bathroom in school. He went into the bathroom to see if Joey was in there. When he entered he was surprised to see that Joey was sitting in a corner his knees to his chest, arms folded over them and his head was down sobbing, so he didn't hear or see the brunette come in. Kaiba felt his heart soften somewhat. That usually only happened when he was around Mokuba. Kaiba turned around and locked the bathroom door so no one would come in and Joey wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of his crying.

Swallowing his pride, he sat beside Joey. Kaiba wasn't sure what to say, but somehow he knew he had to apologize. Even if he didn't know why exactly, the dog comments never got to him this much before. "Listen.Joey." He began, thinking that if he compared him to a dog again anytime soon he would probably regret it.

Joey looked up at Kaiba with tear stained cheeks and red eyes, almost as red as a Red Eyes Black Dragon, but not quite as fierce. Kaiba continued, trying not to let the eyes get to him, "I honestly don't know why that simple statement put you over the edge. Usually you argue and say you aren't a dog or you insult me back? What's up?"

Joey continued to cry. He wanted to tell Kaiba everything. He knew that if Kaiba were his friend he would probably do something about his problem. He looked into Kaiba's blue eyes. Somehow, they looked as if they had softened. Kaiba was looking at him as if he really wanted to know and really cared what was up with Joey. He looked at his feet again and decided that he might as well tell Kaiba, because if he didn't tell someone then he would regret it later.

Joey sighed and began quietly. "My dad compares me to a dog. After he beats me, he insults me by saying I'm weaker than a dog and I should be in a shelter." He paused to take a deep breath before another wave of tears came. "Most of the time he sends me to my room without food. The bastard then goes and drinks some more and before I know it I'm getting beaten up again for no reason at all."

Kaiba felt sorry for him. Which is also another first. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling this was going to be the beginning of a lot of 'firsts'. He never realized that calling Joey "pup" really did that much damage. Kaiba wanted so much to comfort Joey and tell him everything was going to be all right, but before he had a chance the bell signaling the beginning of second period. Kaiba sighed and cursed the bell under his breath. He got up and held out his hand to help Joey to his feet.

Joey took his hand. He was surprised at how soft they were. When he was up he thanked Kaiba for listening and went to the sink to wash his face. While he was doing this Kaiba unlocked the door incase anyone wanted to come in. When Joey was finished they both headed to Math without another word.

Kaiba and Joey entered the class. Kaiba went to the back and opened his reading book, while Joey took his seat beside Malik. It didn't take him long to notice how red his face was. "What happened, Joey?" He asked, because the teacher hadn't started yet. Joey looked at him, puzzled. "You look like you have been crying. What happened?" Malik pressed.

Joey finally realized what he was talking about, "Oh," he replied, "It was nothing, I just poked myself in the eye that's all." Honestly, he knew that Malik was smarter than that to believe him, but before he could press on anymore, the teacher started, talking about their homework from the weekend. Joey sighed in relief. The only one he told about his home problems was Kaiba. Which, now that he thought about it was kind of odd. He never thought he would tell Kaiab anything. However, he didn't want to tell his friends because the problems with his father, in his opinion, would only get worse. If they tried to do anything to help, Joey had a feeling that his good for nothing father would probably go after them, and he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to them.

As he listened to the teacher drone on about the Math problems, his mind began to wander. He then started thinking about what he told Kaiba earlier. Then it dawned on him, 'What if Kaiba tried to do something?' Joey looked back at the boy that resembled a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He was reading because he didn't have to check his work, he knew it was right. 'No wonder Blue Eyes is his favorite card.' He mused, 'It resembles him a lot.'

Kaiba looked up from his book because he knew someone was looking at him. Just out of habit, he glared, not meaning to, at the golden eyes that were watching him. 'Why is the puppy looking at me like that?' he thought. 'He looks like he is actually thinking.' He smiled to himself. 'My puppy thinking. That's amusing.' Kaiba's eyes widened, 'Did I just think my puppy? He isn't my puppy, what am I thinking? Just go back to your book, Seto.' So that's what he did. He went back to reading to try and push the puppy to the back of his mind where he would think about it later.

'Humph.' Joey thought as he turned around after getting a glare from Kaiba. 'What was I thinking, he wouldn't do anything for me. I was surprised he came after me just after last block.' He looked at his notes and began doodling, just out of habit of being bored. He continued to doodle and think for practically the whole class. He then looked at what he had drawn. He usually drew without taking a second glance at it until it was done. It was a very good picture of Blue Eyes. 'What the hell? Why would I draw Blue Eyes? If anything I should have drawn Red Eyes. I mean, it is my favorite card, not Blue Eyes. That is Kai-' A thought struck his mind. 'While I was drawing I was thinking about Kaiba. Damn it!' Joey mentally slapped himself as the bell rang, signifying that it was lunchtime. "Finally, I'm starving." He packed up my books, forgetting about the drawing and left the class.

Kaiba put his things away as he heard the lunch bell ring. 'What a surprise. He is always hungry.' He thought as Joey left the class. He sighed and followed him out of the room, but instead of heading towards the cafeteria like he was, Kaiba headed in the opposite direction to his car. He had promised Mokuba that he would take him to some fast food place today. Although he had no idea why, because Kaiba couldn't even stand the thought of fast food. For some odd reason Mokuba suddenly had this urge to go to a fast food joint like, what was the name of it again? He thought about that name for a moment, before it came to him, McDonalds. 'I guess it won't be too bad. I am going to be eating lunch with my little brother after all.' He arrived at the grade school and Mokuba was outside waiting.

"Hey big bro." Mokuba greeted, like he always did. "So, where we going for lunch?"

Kaiba smiled, which he made a point only to do in front of Mokuba. "I thought you wanted to go to McDonalds?" He asked. Mokuba scratched the back of his head. "You are really okay with that?" Kaiba nodded. 'Anything for my little brother.'  
"That's great!" He said happily. "So, let's go." Laughing at Mokuba's eagerness to get to the fast food place, Kaiba quickly headed to the nearest one. It wasn't very far from the grade school, so they arrived within five minutes. Mokuba was out of the car and in the restaurant quickly. Kaiba got out, locked the doors and headed in after Mokuba. "Wow. There is so much stuff here." He said. "Hmm, what do I want to try first?"

"Don't go overboard, Mokuba." Kaiba said, "Remember, you still have half a day of school left. I don't need a phone call saying that you were sent home because you were sick." That was the last thing he needed on top of everything. Mokuba agreed and finally decided what he wanted.

"I want the chicken nuggets." He said. "With Sweet and Sour sauce." Nodding, he told the guy at the till what Mokuba wanted. "Would you like fries and a drink with that?" He asked. Kaiba looked at Mokuba for an answer and he nodded. 'Pathetic.' Kaiba thought. 'Who would want to work in a place like this? Getting minimum wage. And constantly asking, "Would you like fries with that?" I would never work in a place like this.'

"Is that all sir?" The boy asked.

"I'll just have a hot chocolate." He replied. The guy punched it in and gave the price. I pulled out $20 A/N: I honestly don't know the conversion in yen, so any money will be put in American dollars and gave it to him. He gave the change back and they sat down. Mokuba to eat and Kaiba to drink his, surprisingly good, hot chocolate.

"Why didn't you get anything else, Seto?" He asked.

"I'm just not hungry right now. I'll get something later."

"Okay, if you're sure." He shrugged and began to eat his nuggets. The truth was that he was hungry, but had too much on his mind to eat. Especially with the incident earlier and with what Joey had told him. 'How could someone harm him?' He thought to himself. 'Other than Yugi, he is probably the kindest person I know. Harming Joey was like harming a puppy.' He took another sip of his hot chocolate and stared at the wall behind Mokuba. 'He was defenseless; he probably never has a chance to defend himself. The coward probably goes after him while his back is turned or while he is sleeping. Just the thought makes me angry.' Kaiba sighed and made it a point to threaten someone's job later to make himself feel better. If he didn't then he would probably just punch something else. Kaiba wasn't sure how long he was spaced out thinking about Joey, but someone calling him snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Seto? Big brother." It was Mokuba. Kaiba looked at him somewhat confused. "I'm finished, and I have to get back before my class starts." He pointed out. 'Right, I was with Mokuba, oops.' "Okay, let's go." With that they got up and left the restaurant.

Joey took off towards the cafeteria after the bell rang. He was starved. He never ate breakfast and he even considered it a miracle if he got dinner. The special today was pizza. Joey's favorite. Joey got his food as quick as he could and went to sit with his friends, who were at the same table that they were always at. "Hey guys." He greeted, then added, "and Tea."

"Hi Joey." They all greeted back. Joey began to eat his pizza, but was quickly stopped when Malik asked him, "Why were your eyes so red during Math, Joey? And don't give me the 'I poked myself in the eye' crap. You walked in with Kaiba, did he do anything to you?" He looked around at the eyes that were on him.

"How do you know that Kaiba and I didn't just happen to walk in at the same time?" Joey countered. 'I hope that gets off the eyes.' He thought. Malik just glared at me while Marik spoke. "Come on Joey, don't give us that bull crap. If he did anything to you just tell us and me and Bakura would gladly get back at him for you." He grinned evilly, as did Bakura.

"No!" Joey cried, maybe a little too quickly. Yugi and Yami sniggered a bit. He glared at them the best he could and they stopped, but continued to smile. Joey sighed. "We just talked, that was all."

"About what?" Tristan asked.

"You can tell us, Joey. We are your friends remember." Tea put in and Joey finished "and your always there to listen, I know." She slouched a bit. 'I have heard it way too many times for my liking. I honestly don't know where she gets all these friendship speeches.' He sighed. "It wasn't anything, honest." They just looked at him.

"Okay, fine." Malik said, and Joey sighed, again, hoping they forgot about the crying. "Then why were you crying?" 'Damn'

"Um." Joey tried to think up a good story, "My teacher said something really funny before he let us out, and I just couldn't stop laughing." He replied with a sweat drop as he scratched the back of his head. 'I doubt they are going to believe that.' He thought.

"Ok, Joey." Yugi had finally spoke. "If you don't want to tell us what really went on, then that's ok." He said this with a smile. "When you are ready, you can tell us." Joey looked at him confused, 'what did he mean by that? Wait,.he doesn't think…oh crap.' He was just about to tell him that it had nothing to do with what he thought it did, but the bell rang, signaling the start of class. "See you, Joey." Yugi said after giving Yami a little kiss on the cheek. Ryou and Malik did the same to their yami's and along with Tea they said good-bye to Joey. He had Geography next with Tristan, Yami, Bakura and Marek as well as Seto. 'Great,' He thought, 'If Yami thinks the same thing as Yugi does, then this class will be very interesting.' He sighed, for what seemed like a record time, and they all headed to Geography.

Kiawna: Fwoo. That was difficult to write.

Orli: What are you talking about. I love this chapter.

Yami: ::holding his cheek:: Yugi kissed me.

Orli: ::on the floor laughing::

Kiawna: Stupid POV's. XP I think I will avoid them next time.

Yami: ::still holding his cheek:: He kissed me.

Kiawna: ::slaps him:: Snap out of it. It's not like it was the first time. ::rolls eyes::

Orli: Heh, he is going to be in trouble in the later chapters if he gets like that over a meesly kiss on the cheek.

Yami: o.O

Kiawna: ::snickers:: You're right.

Orli: Alrighty. Review everyone!


	3. The Last 2 Classes of the Day

Orli: Ok, first on the agenda. Thank you all for your reviews. They really inspired Kiawna to write more.

Kiawna: ::grinning:: Arigato minna. They really did help. Ugh, I was just having difficulties at school.

Yami: ::pats:: Now second on the agenda. Since we all kept forgetting to say it, she does not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Kiawna: Unfortunately. But I will one day. All of us fans will get together and buy it. Muahahahaha!

Yami and Orli: ::sweatdrop::

Orli: yes, well, I'm sure the people who actually own it will let you fans buy.

Kiawna: ::evil glint in her eyes:: we have ways of making them sell. ::laughs evilly::

Yami: Oh-Kay.

Kiawna: Aw, but Yami, you know you want us fan girls to own you. Just think of the things we could do. ::goes off into fantasy land::

Yami: Um.Orli, I'm scared. Don't let them take me. ::hides behind Kadsuki::

Kadsuki: Hey, what about me?! ::he waves to get her attention::

Kiawna: ::blinks:: where the hell did you come from? This is a Yu-Gi-Oh fic.not Get Backers.

Kadsuki: Well, I'm only here to find out when you plan on typing that Get Backers story you started. Ban is really getting annoyed.

Kiawna: ::sweatdrop:: Um, when I find the book.now go. ::shoos him away:: Ok, now. The last thing on the agenda is the chapter! Yay ::everybody cheers:: Sorry it took so long. School and all, but I promise the next chapter won't take so long.

Orli: Yeah, but before you read, here are a few things you should know.

"speech"

'thought'

::someone interrupting::

Now on with the story.

Chapter 3: The last two classes of the day.

Kaiba got to Geology a bit early; hoping that Joey would come early, without any of his friends. He sat at the back of class (as he does with every class), reading his book, The Elvenbane. It was pretty good so far. However, every once in a while he glanced at the door to see if Joey was coming in yet. No one else was in the class.

He looked at his watch, only 12:50. There was 10 minutes before class started. People usually arrived 5 minutes or less early. 'Jeez, I didn't drop Mokuba off that early did I?' He asked himself, then sighed. 'Oh well.' He went back to his book.

As predicted. 5 minutes later people started to arrive. Kaiba kept his head down to make it look like he was reading, but his eyes kept looking back to the door. Hoping the puppy would come in without anyone so he could talk to him. He would have talked to him during lunch, but he had promised Mokuba lunch. He wouldn't be home after school. So Kaiba decided he could get some Kaiba Corp work done before the puppy came over to work on our project. looked back at the door to see Yami come in, followed by Tristan, Marik, Bakura and finally, his puppy. His eyes widened at the thought. 'I mean the mutt, he's not my puppy… Damn it, doesn't he go anywhere without those guys.' Kaiba sighed and went back to his book. Maybe he could talk to him in history. Maybe.

"Good afternoon. Class." Ms. King said. Everyone mumbled 'good afternoon' back. "Today, you will be starting a partner project on one of the planets." Kaiba glared at her. 'Another project? I already have one for Comp Civ.' Although, he noticed, he was the only one that thought it would be a bad thing. This class seemed to enjoy studying the planets and solar system. Kaiba looked over at Joey to see his reaction. He was surprised. Joey was excited. "Now, I am going to be pairing you up." She waited for all the groans to pass. "There will be 9 pairs doing planets, 1 pair doing asteroids and comets and 1 pair doing meteors. The last group will be working on the sun and our moon." She brought out a bag. "In this bag each of you names are in here. I will be pulling them out randomly, when I am done, I will number your group off." She started pulling out names. After a while she pulled Yami and Tristan's name to be partners, then soon after Bakura and Marik. 'Well, this is looking somewhat good. Neither Joey nor himself have been called. It is quite possible that we could be paired.again.' A small grin made its way to his face. 'The more projects we have together, the more time we will have to spend together. Interesting.' Finally she pulled his name. Right after she pulled out Joey's name. Kaiba looked at Joey to see him turn to look at himself. He gave him a little wave.

It was a long walk to Geology class. Yami was still smiling and Bakura and Marik were planning ways to do pranks on different people. Once again, Joey sighed. Tristan was just babbling on to him, mostly about Otagi. "Jeez Tristan. Why do you have to keep talking about him? It's like you never see him."

Tristan blinked. "Let's see, because he is an amazing person and I couldn't imagine me being with anybody else." He rolled his eyes. Tristan and Otagi were going out. Which was good, it meant that Otagi wouldn't focus on him. 

They arrived at the classroom and Yami led the way, followed by Tristan. He went in after Bakura and Marik did and sat on the other side of Yami. He was sort of the middle. Joey sat on one side, Tristan sat in front of him, and Marik sat on his other and Bakura behind him. The teacher came in and greeted everybody with "Good afternoon. Class." Ms. King said. Everyone mumbled 'good afternoon' back. "Today, you will be starting a partner project on one of the planets."

Joey looked at her with a smile on his face. 'This will be fun. I love the planets. Maybe we will be able to choose our partners.' He thought. 'Hmm, I wouldn't want to work with Tristan, all I would hear is stuff he has said a million times about Otagi. Bakura and Marik I don't totally trust. I could work with Yami. I don't think Yug would mind. Besides it's for a project.' He suddenly thought about something. 'But if I worked with him then he would probably pester me about Seto.' Joey's eyes widened. 'Wait, did I just call him Seto? Damn it.' He mentally slapped himself. 'Hmm. That is someone I could work with. Although, I don't think he would want to work with me after the incident this morning. Oi.' He rested his head on his hands. He was doing too much thinking. 'I think it is best if she paired us.'

Sure enough, as soon as I thought that, she mentioned she was pairing them up and began to explain what the projects would be. She then started the pairing. 'Wow. All these people in this class and I will probably be paired with Kaiba.' He thought about this for a moment. He could swear that the gods were doing this on purpose because once again, as soon as he thought it, she pulled Kaiba's name, then his own right after. He turned to look at Kaiba. All he did was wave.

Joey turned back around in his seat as the teacher started to number off the pairs. Yami and Tristan got Earth, Bakura and Marik got Mars and he and Kaiba got Jupiter. She finished numbering the groups off and suggested that they sat next to their partner. As Joey got up to go sit next to Kaiba, Yami winked at him with a smile on his face. He sighed and sat beside Kaiba.

"Well, another project to work on tonight I guess." Kaiba stated as Joey sat down. All Joey did was sigh, which he seemed to be doing a lot lately. It meant that he would get a bigger beating from his dad when he got home from Kaiba's place, but he wasn't about to tell Kaiba that.

"It would be so much better if this was an in class project. That way we could concentrate more on our other project." Joey replied. "Oh well. Did she ever say what the requirements of this project were?" He went red in the cheeks a bit "I wasn't listening, I was too busy thinking."

"Wow, you do think. I would have never guessed." Seto said, joking. Joey glared at him. 'He is really cute when he does that.' He thought. Joey turned away from Kaiba, crossed his arms across his chest and stuck his bottom lip out in a mock pout. 'Damn, is he trying to seduce me?' He swallowed his thoughts. There were papers being passed around to the different groups with the criteria on it.

They both leaned in to read what was on it. Their heads were mere inches away from each other. 'Hmm. He has nice smelling hair. It smells like passion fruit.' Joey thought, trying not to look at Seto. 'Why do I feel this way around him. I mean I have nothing wrong with being gay. I won't feel left out when I hang around my friends, seeing as how they all have boyfriends. Except Tristan. He has Serenity. But still. I don't understand why it is Kaiba? He puts me down anytime he can. Hell, he even ignores Yugi in order to put me down and Yugi is his rival!' A thought struck him, but he put it to the back of his mind to read.

The paper was a question sheet with all the planets on it. The first 4 questions under each one were the same:

1. How long does it to revolve around the sun? Rotate on its axis?

2. Which way does it revolve? Rotate?

3. Is there any life on this planet?

4. Is there any water? If so, what form? Solid, liquid or gas

There were a different number of questions for each one. The rest of Jupiter's were:

5. What is the huge Red Spot?

6. One of the moons is bright yellow/orange/red, why?

7. Apparently one of the moons is larger than Mercury, which one?

8. How many moons does Jupiter have?

Kaiba finished reading, but didn't lean back in his chair yet. 'His hair smells so nice.' He thought and took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of Joey's hair. 'Smells like peaches, I like peaches.' He finally sat back in his chair and watched Joey finish reading. 'I shouldn't feel this way about the mutt. I mean, I won't admit this to anyone, but I enjoy being around him. He is always happy, and from what I have seen, he would do anything for his sister. Just like Mokuba and I, those are about the only thing we have in common, that I know of. Well, that and the fact that our favorite cards are both dragons.' He continued thinking.

Joey leaned back in his chair when he finished reading. He grabbed the paper with the actual criteria on it. "You will be marked on: how well you work in class, how creative your poster is, how easy it is for other groups to find the answers to the questions, and your presentation." He read and turned to look at Kaiba. He had a blank look on his face, like he was thinking. 'Don't ask me how, but he is cute when he thinks.' Joey thought then decided that he should talk to him about the project.

"Se-I mean Kaiba." Kaiba turned to look at him when he had started to call him by his first name, but Joey couldn't help but notice the disappointment in Kaiba's eyes when he corrected himself. 'I wonder what that is about?' He shrugged it off deciding to ask him about it later, if he remembered. "So, since this project is due Friday and the other one due next Wednesday, I think we should concentrate on this project first." Kaiba nodded his agreement. "Great." Joey said as the bell rang signaling the end of class. He sighed, "The way this day is going, why do I have a feeling we aren't going to like History class." He stated more than asked. Once again, Kaiba agreed. "Oh well, see you in History, Kaiba." He left to catch up with the other four. They weren't in his next class, but he would hook up with Malik, Tea, Yugi, and Ryou, who were in his next class.

'He nearly called me Seto.' Kaiba thought as he left Geology. He was hungry, so he decided to head to the vending machines for a chocolate bar, before History started. 'He never even comes close to calling me by my first name. He always calls me Kaiba.' He had reached the vending machines and put a dollar in the machine, punching in the numbers to get a Coffee Crisp. He grabbed it when it fell and decided to grab a coke while he was at it, so he went to the pop machine and stuck in a dollar. When he had got his coke, he headed to class.

Joey never knew why he followed Yami and them to meet up with Yugi and the rest. It always ends the same way, Yug and the others kissing just before class. It drove him crazy. He am the only one in the group that didn't have a boy/girl friend to kiss good-bye. As they said their good-byes to each other Joey looked away, not wanting to see all the smooching. When they were finally done, they headed to History. 'I wonder why Seto looked disappointed when I corrected myself after I almost called him by his first name. I swear I'll never get that guy. He is always so calm. I don't think I have ever seen him smile, except towards Mokuba. And even that is rare in public.' Once again, Joey pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he entered the classroom. This time he sat just in front of Kaiba and behind Yugi.

Mr. Bancroft came in the room with a smile on his face. "Good afternoon, everybody. As you know, we just finished studying WW2." Everyone's eyes widened. They knew exactly what happened when they finished a unit in Bancroft's classes and that was a project. Joey and Seto both smiled, figuring this was coming the way their day has been going. 'I'm guessing it will be another partner project.' Joey thought. 'If so, I might as well work with Kaiba.'

"You will get to choose your partners for this project." The teacher said. "Here are the criteria sheets for it." He handed out a few sheets of paper to each of the students in the front row to pass back. When everyone got one, there was a shuffle of desks as people moved to sit next to their partners. Malik and Ryou decided to work together and Tea and Yugi were partners. Yugi turned and winked at Joey. 'Damn him. It's not like that! That is why he decided to partner with Tea. So Kaiba and I would have to work together.' He sighed, 'Oh well.'

Joey turned around and smiled at Kaiba, "Shall we have another project to work on together?" He asked.

Kaiba did his absolute best to not smile and yell his excitement. He did it very well. So instead he just said, "Whatever, pup." He quickly looked at Joey, forgetting not to call him pup. However, to his astonishment, Joey just smiled and moved his desk so it was beside his. 'Hmm, that was weird.' He thought, 'I thought that would hurt him. Not that I wanted it to.' He smiled inwardly, seeing Joey's smile. 'How can he be so hot?'

Joey didn't know why it didn't bother him to hear Kaiba call him pup. He guessed it just sounded better coming from him. Well, not always. Like earlier, but this time he thought he heard a hint of joy when he said it. So instead of flipping out, Joey just smiled and moved his desk to sit beside him. 

"Ok, now that everyone has partners, you have to discuss the event you want to research. It is a first come first serve thing. So quickly discuss. When you have a topic, come tell it to me as well as the name of your partner." Mr. Bancroft said. The classroom quickly filled up wit chatter. Kaiba knew what he wanted to do, so he turned to Joey and said, "Pearl Harbor. I don't want any arguments, you chose the first project, so I get to pick this one."

Joey just blinked and rose an eyebrow. Smiling he said, "Wow, the almighty Seto Kaiba really wanting to do a certain topic." Kaiba glared at him and Joey just laughed. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to argue, I was going to suggest the same thing." Kaiba didn't say anything; "I'll go and tell him." Joey went up to the teacher's desk and told him the info. The minute he left he was being watched. 'Damn, look at that ass.' Kaiba thought. 'Crap, stop thinking that. He isn't interested in you. After all, he turned to you as a last resort for a partner.'

'Did he really?' Another voice inside his head countered. He looked pretty damn happy when he asked you.' Kaiba took what his conscience said into consideration. It was true Joey did look happy. He snapped back to reality when Joey sat back down beside him, still smiling. "What are you smiling about, Joey?" He tried to sound cold, but with the smile on Joey's face, it just didn't come out that way.

Joey looked at him. 'Did he just call me Joey?' He thought. 'He did. He said it earlier too, now that I think about it. Aw, he does care.' Joey laughed to himself.

"Am I missing something?" Kaiba asked sounding confused. Joey shook his head. "Fine, now it says here that it will be due the first day back from break. Let's see." He checked his watch. "It is the 10th now. So we have about three weeks to get this done. So it will be the last one we concentrate on. For the rest of the week we will work on our Jupiter project. On the weekend we will work on our Anubis project and when that is done and over with we will work on this project." He took a deep breath and released it in a sigh. "I don't know how I am going to be able to cope with this and work too."

Joey stopped smiling and looked sympathetically at the CEO. He had forgot that Kaiba was the CEO of a big company. "Why don't you take a couple weeks off from work?" He asked. "I mean, it is the best company in Japan, if not the world. You deserve to take a break. Besides, if you take a break, then you can spend more time with Mokuba. You have been working way too hard and you need a break."

Kaiba glared at him. "How do you know I haven't been able to spend time with Mokuba?" He asked. Joey shifted under the glare he was receiving. "Oh, uh. A little birdie told me." He replied.

"Would that little birdies name happen to be Mokuba?" Kaiba asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew it was because Mokuba had been trying to get him to take a couple weeks, if not months, off of work. He had said basically the same thing as Joey had just said.

"Maybe." Joey looked down and said quietly. Kaiba smiled one of his rare smiles as he looked at Joey. When Joey moved his head to look up, Kaiba quickly replaced his smile with an expressionless face. "Any ways, we will need poster boards." He took out his wallet to see if he had a few dollars to get one or two. When he opened it, moths came out. ::not literally of course -:: Joey had a sweatdrop. 'Great, no money. It's both of our posters. I don't want Kaiba to have to buy all of them.' He sighed. "I'll see if my dad has any money to lend me. So I can buy one of the poster's at least and give you half of the price for the last one.'

"Don't bother. I'll buy them. It will only be a couple of bucks. No need to worry." Kaiba replied. Just then the bell rang and everybody headed out. Glad it was the end of the day.

"If you are sure." Joey said slowly, "Any ways, I'll see you around six." He waved and headed out with Yugi and the others.

"Yep. See then pup." Kaiba whispered with a little smile on his face. He then headed out to his car to go buy the posters.

:::: :::: :::: :::: ::::

Kiawna: Is it just me, or was that a long chapter? 

Orli: It was a long chapter, it took you at least 6 hours to write, with breaks and things.

Kiawna: Wow, it took that long. I must have done a lot of thinking. What do you think Yami?

Yami:.

Orli and Kiawna: Yami?

Orli: ::pokes him with a stick:: I think he is dead.

Kiawna: I don't think so. Remember what I wrote, just before they went to History? ::points to paragraph::

Orli: Oh. Sheesh, you would figure Yugi has never kissed him before.

Kiawna: ::laughs::

Joey: Um...I'm going home the next chapter right?

::Orli and Kiawna nearly jump out of their skin from the sudden appearance::

Kiawna: ::holding her chest:: why? And how did you get in?

Joey: The door was unlocked and I don't want to go to him. ::shudders::

Orli: We can not give you that information. You will just have to wait like the rest of the fans.

Joey: But.

Orli: No 'buts'. Now, can you take Yami upstairs? He is a distraction. And I don't want him to see the next chapter.

Joey: ::confused, but does as asked::

Kiawna: ::sighs:: now you all know the drill. You take your mouse and click that pretty button at the bottom of the page if you want more chapters. Please and thank you. ::goes to write next chapter::

Orli: What she said ::goes to help::

Kiawna: ::returns momentarily:: As for 'The Elvenbane' that Seto was reading. It is a good book. I own it. However, Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton wrote it and it was their idea. Not mine.


	4. Just Some Duels

Kiawna: And we are back! Thank you, Rowan and Sakura for the correction in the spelling of Marik ::has watched too much Canucks hockey, thinking of Marek Malik:: Yay. Wow, I started this chapter sooner than I thought.

Orli: Yeah, well, Yami is upstairs. Still not believing that Yugi kissed him.

Kadsuki: Yes, I am back. And I am confused.

Kiawna: ::glomps him:: Kazu-chan! It's okay. You're allowed to be confused.

Kadsuki: Mind filling me in?

Orli: Um.are you going to be here for the rest of the story?

Kadsuki: Probably.

Orli: But you don't even know about Yu-Gi-Oh!

Kadsuki: You're point? I am going to remain here until she finds that book and completes our fic.

Kiawna: ::still clinging to him:: That could be a while. ::sighs:: oh well. Now let's see. What has happened? The basics of it are that Joey and Seto have got a project in Comparative Civilizations, Geology and History.

Kadsuki: ::blinks::

Kiawna: Now.they are about to.. Wait, that's this chapter, Gomen, sorry I can't tell you! I will allow you all to read. ::sits back and shuts up::

Orli: Ok, since she is shutting up. She does not own YGO, (or Kadsuki, who is from Get Backers for those who don't know), although she wishes. Second um.the chapter.

Chapter 4: Just some Duels

Yug and the others turned left as Joey turned right on his street. He honestly didn't want to go home, but he had math homework to do before going over to Kaiba's and if he didn't get it. Which he probably didn't, then he would just bring it to Kaiba's place to get some help. He let out a breath as he walked up the stairs of their puny apartment building.

He stopped at his apartment door, number 24. Pressing his ear against the door, he listened to see if he could hear his father. Nothing. All he could hear was the radio. Joey silently prayed to the gods that he wasn't home. If he wasn't home, then he couldn't get a beating for just coming home from school. That happened often. He came home and his father would yell at him saying he was late, then he would start beating on him. Hell, Joey could rush home as fast as possible from school and he would still be late. Sighing he opened the door, getting prepared to at least protect his face from getting punched. He didn't mind his gut being punched because no one could see the bruises there, but if his face got bruised, he would have to come up with an excuse as to why he had those bruises. Kaiba would know, but his friends had no clue that his father beat him.

Joey glanced around the room before quietly closing the door behind him. He shut it as quietly as possible in case his dad was asleep, then went to his room and locked the door behind him. So far, so good, now he just had to worry about getting out of here at quarter to six to get to Kaiba's. He left his bag by the door and dropped down on his bed. 'I think I will just do math at Kaiba's.' He thought, 'I mean, he has the same math I do.' Joey began to slowly doze off, when there was a sudden pounding at the door. "Who's there?" He asked, just out of habit. He knew it was his dad.

"It's me son." He sounded sober. Which was a first. "I was just letting you know I was going out. I won't be back until late."

"Um," I said slowly. Since when did he tell him that he was going out? "Okay. Um, dad?"

"Yeah?" He asked through the door, he didn't seem to be mad that he hadn't opened the door. 'Odd.' he thought. "I am going over to a 'friends' to work on a project around six, and I'm not sure what time I will be back."

"Ok. Thank you for telling me, Joey. Try to be back by ten though. Later." Joey heard footsteps and the front door shut.

"Okay, that was really odd." He told the empty room. "Since when did he sound so sober?" Joey shrugged it off, just glad that he didn't pound on the door, yelling for him to open it. Just then his stomach growled. "Oh well. At least I could get some food without having to turn my back every couple of minutes. No seconds."

He left the safety of his room to go to the kitchen. On the way there he saw that the answering machine was flashing. 'Hmm, wonder who would be phoning here.' It read that there were 2 new messages. He pressed the play button. 'Hi there, you have reached the Wheeler's residence. We obviously aren't here to take your call, so please leave a message after the beep and we will get back to you ASAP. Thanks.' He heard his own voice say then, beep.

"Hello, Mr. Wheeler. I am just phoning you to let you know that the meeting for Alcoholics Anonymous has been moved to 4pm today instead of tomorrow. So we hope to see you there."

Joey blinked in surprised for a few minutes. Alcoholics Anonymous? So that is where he keeps disappearing to once a week. And that is why he had been getting fewer beatings each week. He smiled and continued onto the next message.

"Hey Joey. How's it going?" Joey smiled at the sound of his sister's voice. "I was just phoning to let you be the first to know that I'm flying up from Tokyo for the winter vacation. Mom will be coming up around Christmas, but I will see you in about a week. Love ya. Bye."

His grin widened even more. 'Is it just me, or is my life getting better?' he thought. 'I'm working with Seto on the three projects we have, my dad is getting help for his alcohol problem and my sister is coming up for the winter break. How lucky can I get?' He continued to the kitchen, not bothering to erase the messages in case his dad wanted to hear them.

He looked in the fridge for anything to eat. Success, leftover pizza from last night, and it's cold. The best kind of pizza. He took it to his room. It was 4:30, 1 hour before he would go to Seto's, but since he had nothing to do, he called Yugi, seeing if he wanted to do something for an hour.

"Hello?" He heard a voice on the other line.

"Hey Mr. Motou. Is Yugi there?" Joey asked Yug's grandpa as politely as he could.

"Hello, Joey. Yeah, he and Yami are here. Just a moment." He left the phone to go get Yugi. He didn't know how, but he forgot that Yami lived there too. Don't ask me how, seeing as how they are in separable, but he did. "Hey Joey." He heard Yugi greet, "What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out?" He asked, "I have an hour before I have to go work on our project with Se-I mean Kaiba." Damn, he did it again, 'I hope Yugi didn't notice.'

"Sure Joey, should I come there, or will you come here?" He sounded a little too happy. Damn it, he probably did catch it.

"I'll come there, it's easier. That way I can just head to Kaiba's mansion from there."

"Alright Jou. See ya when you get here," Joey said good-bye and hung up the phone. 'Damn it, why do I keep calling him Seto?' He thought to himself. 'Because that is his name, baka.' He heard this voice tell him in his head. Well, it was true, but he never called him that before. 'You have a crush on him. Stop denying it.' "Go away." Joey said out loud and grabbed his stuff quickly and headed to Yugi's.

The whole way he was thinking about what the voice said in his head, "You have a crush on him." Was it true? Nah, it couldn't be. 'Wait, what did I ask myself earlier? I get to work with Seto on the 3 projects I have. Damn. I did.' He sighed. 'But he would never feel the same way about me. Ugh, I have to get to Yugi's quickly.'

Joey hurried to Yugi's and looked at my watch. '5:00pm. Approximately half an hour to do something. Maybe we can duel. He'll kick my ass, but oh well, who knows; maybe my Red Eyes will help me before he gets his Black Luster Ritual out. Shit! I forgot, I gave Red Eyes to him.' Joey groaned. 'Oh well, I'll use Insect Queen if I have to. And I want to duel him, not Yami. And nothing like when Marik was controlling my mind.' He laughed a bit to himself. Both Malik and Marik apologized a million times each after Yami beat them at the Battle City Finals.

He walked into the Game Shop, to see Yugi's grandpa standing at the counter. "Why, hello Joey. How are you?"

"I'm feeling great, gramps." He replied with a smile on his face. "Yugi and Yami upstairs?"

"Yes, but first. I want to give you a couple of cards." He beckoned Joey to come to him. "The first isn't a very powerful card. And I haven't seen anyone, but Kaiba use it and that hasn't even been very often. But here." He handed it to Joey. It was Hyozanryu. "And, here are the other two." He also handed me Turtle Oath and Crab Turtle. Joey was speechless. "Wow, gramps." he began, "Thank you, but why are you giving them to me?"

"Two reasons: one, I heard you gave your Red Eyes to Yugi and I thought you might want another Dragon back in your deck besides Baby Dragon and Thousand Dragon. The second reason is they are 'thank you' for helping Yugi save the world."

"Aw, gramps, you don't have to do that. I would have helped even if it wasn't to save the world." Joey said starting to feel emotional. He cleared his throat. "Thanks again gramps." He said before going upstairs.

Once he reached Yugi's bedroom he stopped. He then looked at the 3 cards Yug's grandpa had just given to him and took out his deck. 'Won't Yug be surprised when he sees these.' Joey stuck them in his deck and knocked on his door.

Hearing him say enter, Joey went into his room. "Hey Yug. I only have about 20 minutes now, so how about we duel?" He agreed. "No helping Yami!" He told him as he sat down beside Yugi. He held up his hands, "Now why would I do that? He knows how to duel." He replied in an innocent voice. Joey just glared at him as they shuffled each other's decks. When that was finished, he grabbed his first hand, telling Yugi that he would go first, he grabbed his first card. 'Hey, not bad.' He thought to himself. 'I have scapegoats, Skull Dice, Gearfried the Iron Knight, Alligator Sword, Time Wizard and Fairy Box. That will help.' He laid down his Gearfried in attack mode and set jos two traps down, Fairy Box and Skull Dice. With that, the duel began.

Kaiba got in his car and headed to the nearest dollar store to get the poster paper. They had 2 other classes tomorrow that they just finished units in, so he decided to buy 5 pieces instead of just 3. He didn't have to pick Mokuba up, because he was going over to a friend's place, so he just went straight to the store. Kaiba parked in front of it and went inside.

The poster paper was near the front, so he didn't have to go far into the foul smelling store. 'Now I know why I don't buy things from these places more often.' He said to himself. He looked at the different colored poster paper. 'Hmm. Black would be good for our planet project. And I suppose this light blue would look nice for our History project.' Kaiba glanced at the other colors, looking for a good piece for Ancient Egypt. His eyes scanned over them. They finally rested on this golden brown one. 'Why does that color remind me of something.or someone.' He thought as he grabbed it for their project. As he grabbed it, these golden brown eyes flashed in his mind. "Joey." He whispered to himself and smiled. 'Yep, this is a good color.' He tried to remember the units they were finishing up in Biology and English. 'Let's see. We are finishing Anatomy in Bio. And just finishing up a novel study in English, so,' He grabbed a plain white one for Biology and a red one for English. 'That will do.' He thought and headed to the cashier. 'Hmm, this will come in handy.' He thought and picked up a pack of construction paper. He placed it on the counter to pay for it. The cashier just stared at him.

"What?" He barked at her. "It's for my brother."

"Y-yes sir." She said and quickly ran the stuff over the scanner. I looked at the total. "It comes to 7.50." Kaiba sighed and handed her 10 dollars and waited for his change. She put the stuff in a bag and gave him the change. "Thank you, come again."

"Yea right." He said under his breath. He headed back to his car and put the stuff in the passenger seat. He then turned on the radio, it was playing "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden. The words had so much meaning to him. "I knew I loved you before I met you." He began singing along quietly. "I think I dreamed you into life." He continued to sing a-long until it was over. Luckily he arrived home before the next song began. He wasn't interested in Britaney Spears singing "Oops I did it again".

He parked his car and went inside. He took off his shoes at the front door and headed to his office and looked at the clock, 4:30. 'That took me an hour and a half to do. Damn, I only have another hour and a half before my puppy gets here.' I paused at this last thought. 'Damn it. Did I just say my puppy? He isn't my puppy. He probably doesn't even feel that way about me.' Kaiba sighed and sat at his desk. Staring at a blank screen he thought he might as well get some work done before Mokuba or Joey got there. Whoever comes first. Mokuba never said what time he was coming home, so Kaiba just assumed he wouldn't be home for dinner. In that case he would just order a pizza later.

Once again Kaiba sighed and turned on my computer, not really wanting to do work, which was another first. When it arrived in windows, he just stared at it. Mokuba and Joey were right. He did work too much. He had no idea why he started thinking that. 'I am a work-o-holic. I don't stop until the work is finished. And work for Kaiba Corp was never finished.' He shook his head and decided to check out his deck instead. He let the screensaver come on, a BEWD one, of course, and took out his deck. He got out of his chair and crossed the room to the leather couch and sat down.

Kaiba looked through it. His three Blue Eyes were at the top of the deck. He put them there at the end of each duel. He hasn't been able to duel since Battle City, where he lost his Obelisk the Tormentor to Yugi. In the end, he won them all. 'Or should I say Yami.' Now that he thought about it, he was glad he lost Obelisk. His Blue Eyes were what helped him beat Ishizu. He continued to stare at his BEWD. He treasured this card, as well as his deck. He had this sudden urge to duel. 'Maybe I will just duel Joey when he gets here before we start on our Jupiter project.' That sounded good to Kaiba. He looked at his watch to see what time it was. 5:45. He should be arriving anytime now. He continued to look at his deck. Making adjustments where he thought necessary. 'Yea. I'll duel Joey.' he thought. 'Maybe I will make conditions too.' Kaiba laughed to himself and thought of some good conditions.

Joey was so close to defeating Yugi. He never got his Black Luster out, but he did get Black Skull Dragon out. He forgot he owned Summoned Skull. That didn't help. Of course he never suspected he would use Red Eyes. However, he was able to get Hyozanryu out in defense mode. It surprised Yugi when he attacked with his Dark Magician. He never managed to get Crab Turtle out, but he told Yugi about it.

"You got what?" He asked surprised. "Why did grandpa give you those cards? He wouldn't give them to me."

"Well, you do own all three Egyptian God cards." Joey pointed out in a matter of fact tone. "I suppose he didn't think you would use them or need them."

He sighed and said quietly, "Well it's not like I use the God cards." Joey laughed. "True, but hey, I gotta go. It was a good duel."

"Yeah. Alright Jou, see you tomorrow at school." He winked, "Have fun a Kaiba's."

"Ha, ha, ha." Joey replied sarcastically. "Later Yami." He waved and quickly left the room because Yami had grabbed Yugi and began to kiss him. Joey rolled his eyes and left the Game Shop. He headed in the direction of Kaiba's mansion. "'Have fun.' He says. "I think I can do that." Joey thought about the possibilities of what fun he could have and smiled.

Before he knew it, Joey was standing out in front of Kaiba's mansion. He felt somewhat nervous. Although, he didn't know why, he had 3 projects to work on with Seto. 'Well, I suppose it is okay.' He thought, 'I mean, we haven't been fighting. Well, not since Comp Civ any ways.' He brought up his hand to knock on the door. He was just about to pound on it with his fists when it opened, and in front of him stood a tall, blue-eyed boy.

"You made it." He said, "I was just about to go out and look for you, mutt." When the words caught up to his mind, Kaiba held his breath, hoping Joey wouldn't notice. 'Damn it. I really have to watch what I say. I can't call him that anymore.'

"Damn it Kaiba!" Joey yelled, "I am not a dog!"

He released his breath. At least he wouldn't have to worry about having to comfort him. 'Now why doesn't that thought comfort me?' He asked himself, 'Do I want to comfort him?' He thought about it for a moment then decided, 'No, I have to watch what I say, otherwise I will just end up pushing him away, and I don't want to do that.' He turned to Joey. "Well, follow me."

Joey went in and took his shoes off. He then followed Kaiba. 'This is a really big place.' He thought. He kept looking at all the pictures, mostly of Blue Eyes, on the walls. 'He really does love that monster doesn't he?'

Kaiba stopped outside his office suddenly, causing Joey bump into him. "Watch it, mu-Wheeler." He said, quickly correcting himself. 'Why did that simple bump make me want to just hold him even more than I already do?' He shook off the thought and opened his office door and went in.

Joey didn't say anything, instead he thought about what he felt when he accidentally bumped into Kaiba. 'What did I just feel there?' He asked himself as he followed Kaiba into the office. 'Where are these feelings coming from all of a sudden? I know I have had a little "crush" on Kaiba, but I thought that was all it was. It seems the more I hang around him, the deeper my feelings grow.' He sighed concluding that it was just too complicated to think about right now. Then his eyes widened seeing the office.

There were more pictures of BEWD on the walls, a few pictures of Mokuba as well. He looked at the desk. It was huge. It had a computer with a screensaver of BEWD. 'Why am I not surprised.' Joey thought and continued at the desk. There seemed to be more Blue Eyes carved on the drawers. He looked around the rest of the room. There was a leather couch, along with bookcases filled with a lot of books. Joey's eyes fell last on the table in front of the couch, with 2 chairs sitting on either end. On the table a deck was waiting. He looked at Kaiba.

Kaiba was just standing there, smiling to himself as he watched the puppy look around the room. 'He looks so cute with a look of awe on his face.' He mused to himself. He continued to look at Joey. He hadn't really been paying attention when Joey looked at him. His face turned a light shade of red when he realized that he had just been looking at Joey, and not what Joey was doing. "What is it?" he asked.

"Why is your deck sitting on top of the table?" Joey asked.

"And how do you know it is my deck and not Mokuba's?" Kaiba countered.

"Unless you gave Mokuba one of your Blue Eyes, then I have good reason to believe it is yours."

Kaiba looked at him confused at first, then looked at the deck. 'Damn it. I forgot to put it face down.' He thought as he looked at the deck. Sitting face up on it was, indeed, a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He sighed, "Yea, it is mine." He said. "I haven't dueled in a while and I was hoping that you would duel me. If you brought your deck?" He raised an eyebrow questionably, but he was hoping inside.

"Of course I brought my deck. I was at Yugi's dueling him before I came here." Joey explained, making Kaiba relax secretly.

"So, will you duel me?" Kaiba asked, probably sounding too hopeful. Joey raised an eyebrow, "Why?" he asked back, not knowing what Kaiba would want if he lost. Kaiba just looked at him. "I told you," he explained, "I haven't dueled since battle-city and I just wanted to see if I could still beat somebody.

Joey crossed his arms across his chest. "And you want to beat me?" He asked quietly. Seto looked at him, almost sympathetically. It was almost true. He wanted to have a duel against Joey, but mostly to see if he had gotten any better since the finals and if he can hold his own without his friends to cheer him on. "How are you so sure that I will beat you?" He finally asked. All Joey did was shrug, still having his arms crossed. 'He looks a lot stronger that way. He probably got those muscles fighting off his pathetic father.' The thought just made him angry inside, how could anyone hurt something, or in this case, someone, so beautiful. It just wasn't right. He had an idea, although, he didn't like it very much. "How about you duel with my deck, and I will see what I can do with your deck." He suggested hesitantly. "That way, if I beat you using your deck, you'll know that you will be able to defeat me. And if I lose, then I will see what I can do to help you make your deck better." He looked at Joey, hoping that suggestion would make up his mind.

Joey just looked at him and blinked. After about a minute, he finally said, "The great Seto Kaiba is willing to allow me, a worthless mutt, to touch his precious deck."

That hurt. He had never called Joey a "worthless mutt". He looked at Joey, and this time, he showed sympathy in his eyes. Seto looked into those soft, golden brown eyes. He then said quietly. "I have never called you a worthless mutt, nor do I think you are." Joey looked back at him, and he continued, "Nor do I think that you are a second rate duelist. You beat Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, hell, you even beat Mai Valentine, and we all know she isn't easy to beat." Joey blinked a few times, then whispered, "how did you know I beat Mai and Rex? I never dueled them at battle-city. The only ones I dueled were Weevil, Esparoba and Mako."

'Oh, great, how am I going to answer him without telling him that I was secretly watching all his duels?' Kaiba thought, then he decided to just lie, "Yugi and Tristan were talking about it in the halls during lunch one time, and I just over heard it. That's all." Joey raised an eyebrow, 'That was a stupid lie. Joey hangs out with them everyday at lunch. Damn it, I should have said in between English and Physics.'

'Why is he lying?' Joey thought to himself, 'He shouldn't have a reason to lie. Oh well, I won't push it.' He didn't. "Fine, we will duel using each other's deck, but no looking at the cards. We have to go on pure talent."

Seto breathed out. He had been holding his breath hoping that Joey wouldn't press the subject. "That is fine by me." He went and sat down in the chair across from his deck. Joey sat in the chair in front of Kaiba's deck. He took out his and handed it to Kaiba and then took Kaiba's deck and shuffled it. When they had both shuffled the decks, they each grabbed their first hand. "Shall I go first?" Kaiba asked. Joey nodded.

Kaiba picked up the first card. Joey's deck wasn't that bad. He had in his hand Baby Dragon, Time Wizard, Graceful Dice, Graverobber and, what is this, a Turtle Oath? He stared at the card. Joey never had any ritual cards. He shrugged it off temporarily. The next card he pulled was Flaming Swordsman. 'This could be a very interesting duel.' He thought. "Okay," I announced, "I set one card face down and send out Baby Dragon in attack mode." This time, winning against Joey was going to be hard to.

Joey picked up a good first hand; Monster Reborn, Lord of D, Flute of Dragons, polymerization, and Battle Ox.

Kaiba set his cards down. 'Baby Dragon, huh?' I thought. 'He probably has Time Wizard in his hand as well. Those two always seem to be together.'

"My turn." He drew his card. Another Flute of Dragons, Yugi once told him what Kaiba did with these. To summon Obelisk against a couple of rare hunters, he sent out Lord of Dragons, then attached 2 Flutes to him as well. Allowing him to summon 4 dragons. "I send out Lord of Dragons, and attach not one, but two Flutes to him. Allowing me to summon 4 dragons. If I am not mistaking." Joey looked at Kaiba. He nodded to my statement. His eyes were wide in shock. He laughed quietly to myself and looked for his three Blue- Eyes. He found them and set them on the field. He then looked for his Hyozanryu. "A ha." Joey set that on the field. "Now, I place 2 cards face down and end my turn."

He didn't attack because he wanted to see if he could turn this around. They were playing by battle city rules, so he couldn't have summoned those 4 dragons without sacrificing a total of 8 weaker monsters. Joey looked at Kaiba again. 'He is really kind of cute when he is shocked.' He thought and watched as he drew his next card.

Kiawna and Orli: ::Laughing hysterically::

Orli: I don't think I can see Seto singing along to a Savage Garden song.

Kiawna: Yeah, same here.

Orli: ::giggles a bit::

Kiawna: There, Chapter 4 done. I just have to figure out what is going to happen with the duel. The Comforting Begins was the original title. But then, I changed my plan while I was writing. Instead of Joey's dad beating him, I decided to put him in rehab. Although, he might get a beating later, sorry Jou fans.

Orli: It depends on if I help or not.

Yami: ::has finally come back downstairs::

Orli: So, you are awake.

Yami: Yes. I can't even remember why I was asleep.

Orli: Well, Kiawna here was writing a story and you were getting all am- mmph ::Kiawna clamps his mouth down::

Kiawna: ::whispers:: Don't tell him, he might faint again. ::she smiles at Yami::

Yami: ::eyebrows raised:: I was getting all what?

Orli: Nothing, you can always read this chapter if you want it to happen again.

Kiawna: ::hisses:: ORLI!

Yami: ::very confused:: x.x

Kiawna: Never mind

Yami: I want to know ::crosses arms and pouts::

Kiawna: Just tell them to review.

Orli: Then you can read the chapter.

Yami: ::sighs:: Fine. Okay everyone. You know the drill. Use your mouse to click that pretty blue button at the bottom.

Kiawna: Thank you. ::hands him a Yugi doll and he faints:: Damn it. Thank you in advance for your reviews and thank you for your previous reviews. I love them and you all! - Now I gotta help Yami.


	5. On to the Project And Other Homework

Kiawna: And we are back. Thank you all for your reviews and help. Just to let people know. I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh. ::pouts:: I wish I did.

Orli: She won't mention that she started writing this before she saw the reviews for the chapter that hasn't even been posted yet.

Kiawna: ::shrinks behind Kadsuki:: Your point.

Orli: ::sighs:: I don't think I have one. So, on with this Chapter?

Kiawna: ::nods:: Any ways, for the current duel, I hope it will make sense, because I haven't read the Manga, so I'm not exactly sure how to write it properly and I am just writing, not really knowing what I am writing.

Orli: You mean improvising?

Kiawna: Of course that is what I mean. -- The duel will be hard though, will Kazu-chan help? He is in a manga.

Kadsuki: I don't even know what the story is about.

Kiawna: Oh well. I still luv yeah. ::glomps him again and clings to him::

Orli: ::sighs again:: why do you give him so much attention?

Kiawna: Because, he is very special.

Orli: ¬.¬ right.

Kiawna: Eh, your just jealous.

Orli: ::tries to change subject:: Where is Yami?

Kiawna: Oh, he is only in the end notes now. Kazu-chan is in the beginning and Yami is in the end. He does my review begging for me But he gets a doll afterwards.

Kadsuki: What do I get for being here?

Kiawna: .

Orli: You'll have to wait until next chapter, sorry.

Kiawna: .

Kadsuki: ¬.¬ Fine, but I won't like it. On with this chapter.

Kiawna: .

Chapter 5: On to the Project. And other HW

Kaiba couldn't believe it. Joey was able to get all 3 of his Blue Eyes and his Hyozanryu out in one turn. He knew he should have separated the Flutes better. He just gaped at Joey. He was just smiling. 'I believe I am going to have to help him with his deck.' He thought to himself. 'Although, seeing that smile does make things a bit better.' He looked down at his deck, wondering what else was in there. Kaiba drew a card, Panther Warrior. That wasn't going to help me. It needed a sacrifice to attack. 'Damn. What do I have that will help?' Time Wizard was in his hand. And if he remember correctly from watching Joey's duels, then he could use Time Wizard to age Baby Dragon. 'I can do that, then I can beat Lord of D at least. Or even Hyozanryu because it only has 2100 attack power. Thousand Dragon has 2400.' He thought then said out loud. "Alright Joey. I will use your favorite move. Time Wizard combined with Baby Dragon to make Thousand Dragon." He saw Joey smile. "Thousand Dragon attacks your Lord of D. I then place 2 cards face down and that ends my turn." He finished. 'To summon Crab Turtle, I will need to sacrifice two monsters whose level equals 8 or more.' Kaiba sighed. He had a feeling he was going to finish me off next turn.

Joey looked at the 2 cards face down. 'He probably has one trap.' He thought, 'But I don't have traps that can take out the monster I am about to summon.'

He looked at Kaiba's blue eyes. They were looking at his hand right now. He really was kind of hot when he played Duel Monsters. Joey shook the thought out of his mind. 'Stop it Wheeler. What would he think if he looked this way and you were drooling, especially over his cards.' It was true, he would probably kill him. "Ok, my turn." He drew a trap. "I use polymerization to combine all three Blue Eyes White Dragons to summon, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." If they were using the Duel Discs it would have been so much sweeter. However, we weren't. So, he summoned the Ultimate dragon. 'I can't attack right away, but next turn.' He laid down the trap card. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

'This is not good.' He thought as Joey summoned Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. 'He sure knows how to use a dragon deck though.' Kaiba drew his card. Another monster, Tiny Guardian. 'Where are all his high leveled monsters?' He wondered. "I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn. 'I won't attack because he probably laid a trap down that could take out Thousand Dragon, leaving me wide open for an attack by Blue Eyes. All he would have to do is attack Tiny Guardian with Hyozanryu then it would be over.'

After Kaiba ended his turn, Joey drew his card. A monster card that would be needed. "First, I summon Blackland Fire Dragon in attack mode. I then use Monster Reborn to bring back Lord of D." He said, making himself not laugh at the astonishment on Seto's face. "I use Lord of D to attack your face down card." He sent his Tiny Guardian to the graveyard. "I then use Blue Eyes to attack your Thousand Dragon." He sent that to the grave as well. "Finally, I use Blackland Fire Dragon and Hyozanryu to attack your life points directly. Making me the winner." He jumped up happily. It was the first, and probably only time he would be able to beat him. Joey looked over at him when he was finished doing his little happy dance. Kaiba didn't seem angry. Instead he was putting the cards back in the deck.

"Why aren't you yelling at me? Saying I cheated or something?" Joey asked somewhat confused by Kaiba's behavior. Normally he wouldn't accept losing so easily. "What cards did you have face down?"

Kaiba don't know why he didn't use Graceful Dice when he attacked Thousand Dragon. 'I guess I just wanted him to have the satisfaction of beating me once.' He thought 'True, normally I wouldn't accept losing so easily, but it was just the joy he brought, that I would never show, to me when he was happy.' He looked up at Joey when he asked which cards were face down. "Um, Graverobber, Turtle Oath and some other magic card. I forgot which one it was."

Joey looked at him suspiciously. "Was it Graceful Dice?" He asked. Kaiba looked away from those beautiful golden-brown eyes. "Kaib-no, Seto." His head snapped up to look at Joey. 'Did he just call me Seto?' He looked back at him determined to know the truth. Kaiba just couldn't lie to him. Not after he called him by his first name and he sounded so serious. He nodded. He wished he hadn't because after he did, it was like he killed Joey's spirit. He collapsed on the chair. "You could have beat Blue Eyes." He said quietly, "No matter what the role. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon is only 4500. Thousand dragon's attack, would have gone above it. Why didn't you use it?"

'Why? It is because I enjoy it when you are happy. I love it when you are bouncing around so filled with life, but now, I shot that joy with the truth. I should never have given that simple nod.' Kaiba thought, hating himself for telling the truth. "I guess I forgot I laid it down." He lied. "Besides, it was getting late and we still have to work on our project."

He looked at his watch. It was already 8 o'clock. Convincing Joey to duel and actually dueling took 2 hours. Wow, time flies. "Okay. You won. Do you want me to look through your deck to make it better?" Joey just stared at Kaiba. Those eyes seemed to be filling with tears. His heart nearly broke seeing this. He had helped him win. This meant that it was a false victory. Kaiba looked away from him.

"Jou, I'm." He started, not believing he was about to apologize to someone other than Mokuba, "I'm sorry. I should never have gone easy on you. Your deck is pretty good." Joey looked at him. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a spark of joy in them.

"You mean it?" He asked. Kaiba nodded, "Plus you know how to use my deck pretty well too." He smiled and the guilt lifted, the smile was back, just by saying sorry and something nice. 'Gee, maybe I should try that more often.' He looked at him, trying, and of course, succeeding, to hide my joy. "Ok, now we should really start looking for the answers to these questions." Kaiba prompted as he took out the question list. Joey looked at him and nodded.

Kaiba went to the computer to look the answers to the questions up while Joey worked on the title for the poster.

Joey grabbed a pencil from his bag and began to write "Jupiter" in big block letters on the construction paper. Joey was a pretty good artist, so he made the letters look all fancy. When he was done placing each letter on a different color piece of construction paper, he took his scissors and cut them out carefully. After he finished that, he grabbed his textbook and got a good look at Jupiter before drawing it on the poster board and coloring it with shiny pencil crayons that Kaiba supplied. When he was satisfied that it looked like Jupiter he placed each letter going across the middle of the planet. As soon as he had glued it down, he decided to do his math. It was 9:00pm, which meant he had an hour to get home.

When he took out his textbook for math, he looked at the questions. 'I can't do these!' He thought, 'They are too hard.' He opened his note/workbook to look at his notes, but wasn't very surprised to see that he didn't have any. In the place of notes was the Blue Eyes White Dragon he had drawn while daydreaming during class. 'Damn it. I knew I should have been paying attention.' He looked at the drawing, then looked at the owner of it. 'He resembles a Blue Eyes.' He determined. 'I love his eyes. They are such a beautiful-wait, did I say love his eyes.' Joey looked at the owner of the eyes he was talking about and smiled, 'They are beautiful, although they can be cold at times.' He looked back at his drawing and started to fix up the Blue Eyes by shading it in and making it look better.

'Damn these questions.' Kaiba thought as he surfed the net trying to find the answers. 'What is the point of doing this any ways?' He looked over at his partner who was coloring in a very good resemblance of the actual planet. 'He is a very good artist.' He thought as he looked at the blonde coloring. 'Why does he have to bite his bottom lip like that though? He looks so innocent. Is he trying to seduce me? Not that that would be a bad thing.' His eyes widened and he turned back to the computer, 'No, I don't want the puppy to seduce me, I don't have feelings for the puppy.' He continued to say this to his mind, but he soon found himself looking up Red- Eyes Black Dragon on E-bay. 'What the hell? Why am I looking up Red-Eyes on e-bay?'

He didn't see a resemblance between Joey and Red-Eyes. 'They are totally opposite.' He thought. 'My puppy isn't fierce like Red-Eyes.' A tint of red came up in his cheek, 'Damn.' He rested his head in his palms. 'Why am I denying it?' He asked himself and lifted his head to look at Joey who had already finished the first part of his job and he was writing something down in his workbook.. 'I like Joey.' He smiled as he looked at Joey. 'He is probably attempting to do Math.' Kaiba thought as he saw the Math textbook opened to the page for homework. He continued to watch Joey scribble in his book. When Joey lifted his head he quickly went back to searching for answers. "Uh, Kaiba?" He heard Joey say. 'No, go back to calling me Seto.' He thought as he looked at Joey and answered, "What is it?"

"Could you possibly help me with this homework." Joey asked, "I really don't get math." Kaiba sighed and went to sit beside Joey thinking that he could use a break from finding those answers any ways. "What do you need hel-" He stopped asking when he saw the drawing of Blue Eyes. "J-Joey, did you draw this?" Joey blushed and nodded shyly. "It is awesome. I have never seen a drawing this good before."

"Aw, it's nothing." He replied sounding a bit embarrassed at the compliment. 'Wow, 2 compliments in one day. Is he trying tell me something.' Joey thought about it, then shook it off, 'Nah that would make my day way better than it already is. Hmm, maybe I can give him a hint.' He took the drawing out of his notebook. "Here." He handed it to Kaiba. "You can have it." Kaiba looked at him surprised.

"But, Joey, you drew it. You deserve to keep it." Kaiba protested, but secretly wanted to take it. Joey shrugged his shoulders and licked his dry lips. 'I wonder what those lips taste like?' Kaiba thought.

"Honestly, I want you to have it. I drew it during Math, as you can see, I have no notes on today's homework." He rubbed the back of his head and was blushing as Kaiba took the picture. "I was daydreaming as I drew it. I didn't know what I was really drawing until I saw it at the end of class. I get like that sometimes. I think about people or things and draw something to resemble them without knowing it." He covered his mouth and the blush in his cheeks grew deeper in color. 'Did I just say that last sentence out loud? Shit. Now he is going to know I was thinking about him during math class.'

'What did he just say?' Kaiba thought surprised. 'If he thinks of people, then draws something to resemble them, then that means he was probably thinking about me. That is why he drew Blue-Eyes.' A tiny blush spread across his cheeks. "Thank you, Joey." He said. "Now, what was it you needed help with."

Joey grabbed his textbook and simply said, "All of it." Kaiba took the book from him and looked at the questions. 'Maybe he didn't hear that last comment. Man, that was embarrassing.' Joey thought.

"Okay, this first one is simple." Kaiba took the pencil from Joey's hand, purposely brushing his against Joey's. He drew a triangle on the paper and labeled the angles of it. "You have to use Tangent to find the hypotenuse. Do you have a calculator?" Joey shook his head and Kaiba reached over to his desk and grabbed his. "Okay." He did the required steps, showing Joey as he did, and then wrote the answer down. "It's pretty easy."

Joey's eyes just looked on confused. "Man, I hate Trig. I don't even seen why I have to learn it. I won't need it in the future." Seto laughed. It was true. Only mathematicians used Trig out side of school.

'What is this? Kaiba laughing?' He looked at him laughing. 'His smile is beautiful. I wonder why he doesn't smile more often or laugh.'

"Well, you will have to learn it if you want to pass math." He said, quickly going back to his serious face. 'Bummer.' Joey sighed, "I will never get it." He whined. He heard Kaiba sigh. "Here, watch me." He leaned in closer to watch him do the next problem. He drew the triangle and wrote the angles. Joey looked at him, 'he is beautiful.' He thought and felt his cheeks go warm when Kaiba looked up to see if he was paying attention. Joey looked into his sapphire eyes. His face was mere inches from Joey's. "Since there are two angles, it is easy to figure out the last.one." His explanation slowed as he looked into his eyes. Joey seem to have that effect on people. "What are you loo-" He started to say, but was cut off. Joey couldn't help it, he leaned in and kissed him.

"Seto, I'm sorry. I didn't mean too. I should never have-" Joey started to apologize, but was Kaiba pulled him back and began to kiss him passionately before he could say anymore. He tasted good. Kaiba ran my tongue over his lips, wanting to taste more of him. He moaned lightly, allowing him to slip his tongue in his mouth. At first he fought to gain control, but realizing that he wasn't going to win, he backed down.

'Damn need for air.' he thought as he slowly pulled away. They were both quiet for a while, trying to breath steadily again.

Joey looked into Kaiba's eyes. He knew he was blushing. "I don't understand." He said simply. Kaiba looked at him a bit confused. "Understand what, puppy?" He asked. For what seems like the first time to Joey, he didn't flinch at Kaiba calling him puppy. "I thought you despised me?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He replied with a smile. Joey blushed even more. "I guess I felt that arguing with you was the only I could say anything to you."

Joey felt Kaiba's hand cup his cheek. "Didn't you ever wonder why I only picked on you?" He leaned into his hand, and shook his head. "Silly puppy. It was the same excuse for me. I purposely picked on you because I thought you were really cute when you were mad." He went quiet for a bit, then a hint of red came up in his cheeks and he looked down. He quietly began after a bit, "I was jealous of Yugi too." Joey looked confused a bit, but brought his hand to cup Kaiba's chin and gently forced him to look at himself. "Why?" He asked softly.

"I was jealous of him because he had you as a friend." Kaiba felt his cheeks go redder, he couldn't believe he was saying this. "I always wished that I was him when he was dueling, even when he wasn't dueling, because he always has you there to encourage him when a duel or situation looks hopeless."

Joey lightly kissed him again. "Now you don't have to worry about that, right?" He smiled and nodded. Joey looked at the time. 9:50pm. "I gotta go. I told my dad I would be home by 10."

"Do you want a ride? It's pretty cold out there." Kaiba asked, placing the picture Joey gave him on his desk.

"If you are the one driving." Joey smiled. 'He is sexy when he smiles. His hair in his eyes looks even better.' Kaiba thought as he walked up to Joey and brushed a lock of his golden hair out of his eyes. He looked into his golden eyes and said, "Of course. And after I drop you off, I should probably pick Mokuba up." He brushed his lips to Joey's in a soft kiss. "Now, shall we go?" Joey nodded and followed Kaiba out of the office and to his car.

The car ride to Joey's apartment was quiet, with each boy sneaking a glance at each other. They had arrived in front of his apartment building. "Well, thank you for the ride." Joey said and made to get out of the car, but was pulled back into a passionate kiss. He didn't hesitate to respond. After a minute, they pulled away. "You didn't think you were leaving without a good- bye kiss did you?" Seto asked teasingly. Joey smiled and shook his head. "Good." He leaned in and kissed Joey again. Once again they had to pull away for air. "Okay. Now you may go." He smiled. Joey just brushed his lips lightly against Seto's before thanking him and getting out of the car.

Joey watched Seto drive away before he sighed happily and headed into his apartment. Even though he knew his father was in rehab, he couldn't help but be cautious when he entered his apartment. When nothing came he decided to risk calling him, telling him he was home. "DAD!" He yelled, "I'm home!" Nothing. 'Hmm, I guess he isn't home yet.' He took off his shoes and headed for his room. He fell on his bed and came to the best conclusion he has in his life. "There is absolutely no doubt that this was the best day ever."

Kiawna: There. What did you think?

Orli: It was good for me.

Joey: I loved it. I was wondering when you were going to do that.

Kiawna: ::grins::

Seto: I guess it was okay, it could have been better,

Kiawna: ::glares at him:: It will get better. Hopefully.

Orli: Depends on if she can write it, and if I feel like inspiring her to.

Yami: Are me and Yugi going to be in this anymore?

Kiawna: ::nods:: they still have to go to school

Seto, Joey and Yami: ::moans::

Kiawna: Sorry dudes, I still have school too ya know.

Orli: Yea, so you can't expect another chapter for at least a week.

Joey: But I want to hang out with Seto more! ::glomps him::

Seto: GAH! -- why do you insist on doing that.

Joey: Because it's fun.

Seto: ::Sweatdrop::

Kiawna: Don't worry, I'll try to make the classes go quick.

Joey:

Kiawna: Who wants to say it this time?

Everyone: ::whistles and pretends not to be listening::

Kiawna: ::gives them all evil glares:: I know! Kazu-chan can! He hasn't talked.

Kadsuki: I don't even know what it is about. Or what I am suppose to say! TT

Kiawna: ::glares at him and hands him a script:: there.

Kadsuki: ::is reading:: Review please. And let her know how she can make it better.

Kiawna: Thank you. ::hugs him:: Yes. I would like advice on how to make it better. If it needs to be better that is.


	6. The Last 2 Projects

Kiawna: We are back! 

Orli: Chapter 6, how many more chapters do you plan on doing?

Kiawna: I am aiming for 10, but I am not sure that is going to happen.

Orli: Okay.

Kiawna: Yea, not too much talking this time. Do you know how hard it is to write a chapter when you have forgotten what you had written in previous chapter?

Orli: ::blinks:: no.

Kiawna: ::as she re-reads previous chapters:: it is very hard. ::blinks as she notices mistakes or flaws:: That isn't cool.

Yami: What?

Kiawna: Where is Kadz?

Yami: ::Shrugs::

Kiawna: Oh yea! I forgot. I found my book. Now I have to type up the story. -- ::sighs:: oh well. At least my school problems are gone.

Orli: except homework, now what isn't cool.

Kiawna: Yea that never goes away. Oh, the fact that my story is set just before winter break. I said that History was due at the end of the month.which is in the middle of winter break. Plus I said that Serenity was coming up next month. Which will be January, after Christmas. ::slaps head:: I am too lazy to fix it now.

Orli: Plus the rest of the projects are going to be due after winter break, right?

Kiawna: Yes. ::sighs:: I hope this is an understanding. Thank you to all that has reviewed. I agree the POV's aren't very good. Reading other stories, I got a sense on how to do good POV's so, I will do my best in this chapter. Now, on with the chapter!

Chapter 6: The final Two Projects

Joey woke up in a good mood. which was rare on a school day. He had just had the best Monday he could ever hope for, which is also a rarity because Mondays are never good. He found out that his dad was going to AA meetings, he didn't get a beating, and he got 3 projects, not that that's a good thing, but they were all with Seto Kaiba. Plus on top of all of that, he kissed and was kissed by Seto. What more could he ask for?

He got up and went to take a shower. When finished he dried off and put on his school uniform. Before heading out of the room he checked the clock. '7 am? I am never up this early.' He thought amazed. 'I must have slept better than usual. I wonder why?' He asked himself with a smile on his face knowing the answer. He headed to the kitchen to see if there was any food for breakfast. When he was about to open the fridge door, he noticed a note on it. It read:

Joey, I have gone job searching. Your lunch is in the fridge as well as an after school snack. If you are going anywhere after school, just leave me a note because I am not sure when I'll be back. Until later. Love Dad.

Joey blinked a few times after reading the note. Two things about this were weird to him. First, his dad never left notes, second, his dad hadn't said or wrote "love" since before his mom left with his sister. 'He must have been going to those meetings longer than I thought, but I still can't be sure that he is totally out of drinking,' He thought to himself. 'So, I will still be a tad bit careful.' He wrote on the back of the note that he would be going to a friend's and would call if he wasn't going to be home for dinner. He placed it back on the fridge and started his search for food.

As soon as he had eaten, he wrote a note on a piece of paper, letting his friends know that he had gone to school early. When he had done this, he grabbed his lunch, school bag and placed the note on the front of the door before locking it and headed off to school.

Meanwhile.

Seto had finally had a good night sleep for the first time in a long time. He looked at the clock expecting it to be 5am, which was when his body usually woke him up. 'Woah, 7am. I guess my body decided it wanted an extra two hours sleep.' He smiled knowing the cause. His feelings weren't keeping him awake anymore because he had finally let Joey know how he felt through one single kiss. When Joey had kissed him the night before he was surprised because he hadn't suspected that Joey felt the same way about him. Heck, he didn't even know Joey was gay. In his mind, it was all-good though, because he had thought about kissing Jou for some time now.

He sighed happily and made his way out of bed and to the bathroom connected to his room. He took a shower and then got dressed. His stomach growling at him reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything the night before. Instead he just went to bed after dropping Joey off at home. He made his way down the many stairs and hallways to the kitchen. Since Mokuba had phoned asking to stay the night at his friend's place, Seto didn't have to worry about getting him to school, so he could leave early if he wanted to. After not finding anything he really wanted, he decided to just take a cinnamon bun and warm it up.

When finished eating his cinnamon bun, he filled a mug with coffee, grabbed his suitcase of schoolwork and stuff and headed to school. Thinking that Joey was probably still sleeping in bed.

At school.

Seto headed to his locker since he had to grab the books for the day from them. It was also only quarter to 8, so no classrooms were opened to students yet, so he would have to sit in front of his locker until at least 8 when the library opened. He sighed and made his way to his locker. 'Damn school. Why couldn't it be winter break already?' He thought.

He was surprised when he saw a certain blonde sitting in front of his locker. 'Or is it his locker, I can't remember if his locker was by mine or not.' He smiled and shrugged it off. As he got closer, he noticed that the mentioned blonde's head was hanging and he was breathing very relaxed and calmly, 'Hmm, silly puppy fell asleep. Oh well, I know how to wake him up.' Seto smiled and kneeled by the blonde. Using his hand to lift up his head, he bent in and kissed Joey on the lips. At first, there was no response, but after a moment, there was some eager participation.

Just to tease Joey, he pulled away, earning a whimper of protest from Joey. "I think it's time to wake up, pup." Seto told him with a smile. Joey mumbled something that Seto didn't quite catch. "What was that?" He asked. For an answer, he was pulled into Joey for a kiss. "I think he is awake now." He mumbled against Joey's lips before tracing his tongue over Joey's bottom lip, which he happily opened to allow Seto in. Joey didn't bother fighting for dominance for two reasons, first, tiredness, second, he knew he would never gain it. So instead, he just wrapped his arms around Seto's neck and allowed him to lead. Once again, the need for air made them both reluctantly pull away. "Good morning to you too." Seto said with a mocking smile on his face.

Joey returned the smile and replied, "Just returning the greeting." Seto chuckled a bit to himself and stood up to get his books. "Are you always here this early?" Joey asked, also standing up. Seto looked at him, "well, I know for a fact that you aren't." Joey blushed a bit and said, "I take that as a yes. But why?"

"I could ask you the same question. You usually come late to class. Why you here so early today?" Seto retaliated. "I come early because I have no reason to be at home this early."

"Well, for once in my pathetic life I slept good and woke up early." Joey said with a smile. Seto raised an eyebrow, "And what reason would you have for sleeping good?" He asked already knowing the answer, least, he was pretty damn sure he knew the answer. Joey smiled and wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, "Oh, I don't know. I think it had something to do with the fact that the guy of my dreams returned my feelings." Seto smiled and put his arms around Joey's waist, pulling him closer. "Really? What kind of dreams would those be?" Joey looked up at him, "Nothing bad, I assure you." He smiled innocently. 'Damn, he is so cute like that.' Seto thought and leaned down and gently kissed Joey on the lips. "How about we go to the library where there are some comfortable chairs?" He suggested while closing his locker. Joey nodded his agreement and happily followed the tall brunette.

Joey felt like tackling the sexy CEO right then and there. He could swear that Seto was purposely walking sexily. It was very seductive in Joey's eyes. 'Gods why does he do this to me?' he thought as they entered the library and headed to the far back corner where all the comfortable chairs were. Seto sat down in one. Joey was about go sit in the one beside him, but he got an idea and sat in Seto's lap as he said, "This chair looks way comfier than that one." He nodded his head in the direction of the chair beside them.

"Really?" Seto asked raising an eyebrow. Joey nodded and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Mmm, I think I can live with being a chair temporarily." Seto said pulling Joey closer by his waist. "What will you tell your friends?" He asked as Joey rested his head on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure." He replied sleepily. "I believe, however, that Yami and Yugi suspected we would get together soon." He blushed a bit. "Before I went over to your place I was at Yugi's. Before I left, he winked at me and said "Have fun". I thought about that for a moment, but then I just sarcastically laughed. I knew what he meant. Just because he and Yami are like that doesn't mean I will force myself on someone."

Seto raised his eyebrows in a surprised look. "And you didn't force yourself on me?" He asked Joey somewhat sarcastically. "I was sure surprised when you kissed me."

"Um, I didn't force myself on you. My hand slipped from under me, causing me to fall into you." Joey said in a false matter-of-fact tone. "Really?" Kaiba said not believing a single word. Mokuba used this method on him many of times and it never worked. Joey nodded. "I don't believe you."

"This is forcing myself upon someone." Joey replied. And before Kaiba had a chance to say or do anything, Joey had pushed his lips against Seto's in a bruising kiss. He ran his tongue along Seto's bottom lip, earning a small gasp from him, allowing Joey to slip his tongue through the gap. He was determined to maintain control, so he wrestled Seto's tongue with his own. Seto finally gave up, realizing Joey's determination and he admired it. He took one of his hands and moved it under Joey's shirt and rubbed his back. This caused Joey to moan and Seto took advantage of it to dominate him, continuing to rub his back. They both cursed the fact that they needed oxygen. Reluctantly, they both pulled away because of the cursed fact. "Wow." Joey said as he panted to get air.

"You like that?" Seto asked, still rubbing his back. Joey blushed a bit, but responded by leaning his back into the hand. Seto continued, "Okay, so Yami and Yugi won't have a problem, but what about the others?"

"I still don't think they will mind. I mean, Tristan is dedicated to my sister, and if he wants to get close to her, he will have to accept it. The others, well, Malik and Marik shouldn't care, as well as Bakura and Ryou." He gave Seto a kiss on the cheek, "don't worry. They won't mind." A thought occurred to him. "What about Mokuba?"

"Joey, he loves me, and he adores you." Seto said. "In the beginning, I didn't know why, but now I do."

"Really?" Joey raised his eyebrow. Seto nodded. "Why do you see why he adores me?"

"Let's see. You are fun to be around, you put your friends first, you and your sister are like me and Mokuba." He replied, checking them off on his fingers. Joey hugged him. "You can be unbelievable sometimes, you know that?" Just as he was going to kiss Seto again, the bell rang. He buried his head in the crook of Seto's neck whining, "I don't want to go."

"Come on pup." He told the blond. "It won't be that bad. You can look forward to spending time with me after school and at lunch. Maybe."

"Why 'maybe' at lunch?" Joey asked.

"I might go take Mokuba to lunch again because he didn't come home last night." Seto sighed, "But if we don't spend lunch together it will give you time to tell your friends."

"True. But one thing before we go to class."

"Oh, and what is that?" Joey pressed his lips against Seto's in an answer. It wasn't a long one because they had to get to class, but it would last until possibly later, if they could wait that long. "Okay, now we must get to class." Joey whined his protest, but got up off of Seto's lap. They grabbed their books and headed to Keyboarding. Possibly the easiest class in the entire school. At least they knew they weren't getting any projects in that class. It got interesting at times though, because Ryou had to constantly warn Bakura not to do things. Yami and Yugi were usually getting in trouble for cuddling in class. Which was a problem for Ms. Ohli. It was a change from him always getting in trouble.

When they had arrived everyone was already sitting at their seats, but the teacher wasn't there yet. Joey sat beside Yami while Seto took Joey's other side. "What are we doing Yami?" Joey asked as he turned on his computer.

"What? Did you say something Joey?" Yami asked. 'I should have known, he is always paying attention to Yugi and no one else.' He sighed and leaned back to ask Ryou.

"Just working on our web page." He replied before stopping Bakura from bashing the slow connection to a million pieces.

"Damn connection. Why the hell is it so slow!" Bakura said as he made another attempt to bash it before Ryou stopped him. He slouched in his chair and yelled, "Come on, I am not getting any younger." Joey snickered at this. It was true, both Bakura and Yami were over 5000 years old; they weren't getting any younger. He turned to Seto smiling and asked, "Could you help me? I really am having problems with HTML."

Later.

"That was an interesting class. I don't think I have seen her move so fast." Joey said referring to the fire to Bakura's computer that he had started. "I am surprised you weren't sent to the office and there wasn't a fire alarm." They all chuckled. "Hey guys, I'll catch up with you in English."

"Alright Joey." Ryou said before he continued scolding Bakura. Joey laughed as he watched his friends' head to their class. He turned into a bathroom, pulling Seto in with him, making sure it was empty before crushing his lips. After a minute they pulled apart. "Just couldn't wait until after school, could you?" Seto said smiling. Joey shook his head. Seto wrapped his arms around Joey and pulled him closer before whispering in his ear, "Maybe I should give you a better dose before we head to class?" He felt Joey shiver. This gave him an idea and he began to kiss from Joey's ear down his jaw line to his mouth. They were locked in a very hot kiss when the bell rang, signaling another class. They both growled before breaking apart and heading to their Bio class.

Biology.

"Okay class." Mr. Betts said as he entered. "Today, you will get a project that will require partners." Everyone, except Seto and Joey, groaned. They didn't mind having a project to work on. Their teachers didn't give out any homework while they were working on a project. When everyone finished groaning the teacher continued. "You will have until the end of January to finish it. So I want absolutely NO late projects. I won't even give you a mark if you hand it in late." The class gulped. "Just over a month is more than enough time to finish the project. As for the partners, pick your own." The class cheered. "The project will be on the anatomy of an animal compared to that of a human's. You may not do monkeys."

Joey and Seto looked at each other. "Together again." Joey winked. Seto just nodded and pulled Joey's stool closer to him. "What animal shall we do? Dog? Wild Dog, Cat?" He started to randomly suggest. "Wild Dog. Not that it is any different from a pup, ne?" Joey winked again. "Okay, so, this will obviously be the last project we work on. We can do the finishing touches on Jupiter, start on Anubis, go to Pearl Harbor since that is due after winter break, then when we finish that, we can start on this one."

"Sounds good to me." Seto replied and then whispered, "You know, you are very organized when you want to be." Joey blushed, "Naw, that is just a figment of your imagination."

"What imagination?" Seto tried to look innocent. "You know, when you pout like that, it does things to the imagination, whether you have one or not." He added as he saw Joey pout at something. "Why are you pouting any ways?" He pointed to the outline of requirements that had just been handed to them. Seto looked at it and read aloud, " 'you will need a diagram of each anatomy along with a 5 page essay comparing the differences and similarities of the anatomies you picked.' I see nothing wrong with this." He finished, "You can do the drawings and I will do the essay."

Joey sighed, "Yeah, I guess you are right. Although, I hope I can cope with all this work even though it is in partners." Seto looked to make sure no one was paying any attention to them before he gave Joey a little hug-like squeeze. "Don't worry pup. We have quite a bit of time, so there is no rush to complete them all in a couple of weeks." Joey nodded. Seto was right. Just because there were what seemed like a million projects due, doesn't mean they would have to finish them all right away. Until the class finished, they read the chapter on anatomy to get a better idea of how they would do this new project.

Lunch.

When the bell had rung, Joey quickly packed up his books and hurried to the door. Surprisingly, waiting patiently there until Seto got there. "So, are you going to go see if Mokuba wants to go for lunch, or are you going to come to the café and see what slop they got down there?"

"I think I have to talk to Mokuba." Seto stated plainly. "However, you can walk me to my car at least." Joey gave him a smile and walked with him to the doors closest to the parking lot. When they got there, Seto gave Joey a small kiss and climbed into his car. Stepping away from it, Joey moved back and waved to Seto as he took off to the Elementary School to pick up his little brother.

"Hey Joey, over here!" a small voice said. Joey recognized it and headed over to his tri-colored friend. "What's up Joey?" Yugi asked, seeing the look of frustration on his face as he sat down. Joey blinked a couple of times, then realized what Yugi asked him. "Oh, nothing Yug." He looked around, "Where is Tristan and Tea?"

Yugi shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to tell everyone something. But I can't tell everyone if not everyone is here, now can I?" He smiled at his petite friend, who shook his head. "Damn it. They can find out later. I'll tell them during PE."

"Okay Joey, what did you want to tell us then?" Yami asked with a smirk on his face as if he knew. Joey looked around; the only ones that looked confused as to why Yami was smirking were Malik and Marik. Joey smiled before he smiled and said, "I am seeing someone."

Seto frowned as he walked the halls of the grade school to the office. 'I thought High School was frustrating. I forgot how many halls there are in this school.' He sighed in relief as he came to the office. Walking in, he went to the secretary and asked for Mokuba. "Alright, just a moment Mr. Kaiba." She grabbed the microphone and spoke into it, "Would Mokuba Kaiba please come to the office, Mokuba Kaiba to the office." Seto rolled his eyes as he also forgot how annoying that speaker thing was. "He should be here in a couple of minutes." He glared at her, not being one for patience, but he sat down in one of the uncomfortable chair's offices usually caring. 'Jeez, the school should spend some of our tax dollars on new furniture, not whatever else they waste it on.'

He was about to complain about the uncomfortable seats and threaten her job, which is something he hasn't done in a while, when Mokuba came bouncing happily in the door. Seto raised an eyebrow at his little brother, why would he be so happy? Seto couldn't help but smile. "What has you so happy, little brother?" He asked making the ebony haired boy jump a bit. He had not noticed Seto when he came in the office. "Seto. What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too. I wanted to take you to lunch because I have something to talk to you about."

"Really? Well, lunch is over in about 30 minutes. How about we go sit on a bench or something?" Seto looked at him questionably and asked him why. "Well, I have already eaten. Kevin's mom made us lunch. I hope you don't mind."

Seto shook his head. "No, that's fine Mokuba. We can go sit on a bench. Let's go." Mokuba smiled before following his brother.

Five minutes later they were sitting in one of the benches in the park across the street from the school. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, Mokuba, would it bother you if I told you I was seeing someone?"

English.

Joey walked into his class, bouncing slightly. The three hikari's and yami are slowly following, but with identical smiles on their faces.

Flashback

Joey smiled before he said, "I am seeing someone." Yami and Yugi looked at each other with identical smirks on their faces. Bakura brought his hand to his mouth in fake disbelief. "Really, who?" He asked with an edge of sarcasm.

"Now, I know you guys probably won't accept it, but I don't care, I plan on seeing him with or without your guys' approval." Joey stated. Marik and Malik became more interested when Joey mentioned 'him'. They leaned closer to Joey, which scared the poor blond a bit.

"Him, huh." Ryou stated with a smile on his face. "Who is he?"

Joey blushed a bit before finally saying, "Seto Kaiba."

"YES!" Marik yelled, causing everyone in the café to stare at their table. He turned to Malik and Bakura. "You two owe me $50 bucks." Yami, Yugi, Ryou and especially Joey all looked at the three. Malik and Bakura were grumbling curses under their breaths while Marik was doing the happy dance. "Why do you owe him $50, 'Kura?" Ryou asked, glaring at his yami.

"Well," Bakura had shrunk a bit in his seat; "I made a bet that Joey and Seto wouldn't get together for at least another couple of weeks." He said really fast. Ryou continued to glare at him.

"What about you, Malik?" Yugi asked, "Did you make the same bet?"

"Not really." Malik answered. "I actually said that they would be together by now. So I lost the bet a long time ago."

"And I," Marik pointed to himself proudly, "Said that as soon as you two had a project to work on together you would be together."

Once again Malik and Bakura grumbled curses. Joey blinked, but soon smiled. "So, I take it by all your reactions you are okay with me dating your arch enemy?"

"Joey, he isn't our arch enemy, just a rival." Yami stated as Yugi nodded his agreement. "We have thought you two looked good together from the beginning."

"We figured Kaiba had feelings for you when he argued with you all the time." Yugi continued.

"But how?"

"Have you ever heard of the saying (or term), 'If you are being picked on by someone, that most likely means they like you'?" Ryou asked, finally taking his glare away from the white haired yami. Joey shook his head, "Well, we figured that since Kaiba always picked on you, or found ways to insult you whether you were in a duel or not, it most likely meant that he liked you."

"Besides. You were too out of it to notice, but when the lightning struck you at the Battle City finals, we all saw a look of concern in his eyes." Yugi continued, "There was relief in them when you stood up."

"Really?" Yugi, Yami and Malik nodded. "Wow. I think I will have to question him about that later." He laughed a bit; "I'm going to enjoy seeing him get out of this one." Everyone laughed, just as the bell rang.

End Flashback

Seto's head shot up when he heard his puppy's voice. Well, he sounded happy. 'That's a good thing.' He thought, 'and judging by the looks on everyone's face, they must have took the news well.'

"Hey Kaiba!" He heard a cheerful voice call. He looked up to see big amethyst eyes staring at him. "So, how is life?" By this time, Joey had sat down beside him and he looked at the blonde. He was smiling and just gave him a smile and thumbs up. "It's good Yugi. Ever since yesterday it has gotten much better." He said with a straight face, because the Seto Kaiba we know never smiles in public. Yugi just grinned and took his seat in between Joey and Yami. The other 4 had taken their seats in front of Seto, Yugi, Yami and Joey.

By this time the teacher had came in and started to talk in his monotonous voice. Joey tried to keep his mind on taking notes. However, that didn't last. He just started to doodle. He continued doodling in his notebook until he heard the teacher mention something about a drama project. Joey looked up and blinked, 'What is he talking about?'

"This project will have to be done in partners of 3-4. In those groups you will have to choose a scene from the play we have recently been studying, 'A Midsummer Night Dream'." He explained. "By the end of January I expect you to have all the lines from that scene memorized as well as a decent dramatization of it." The whole class groaned. All Seto and Joey did was sigh. This would be their last project at least. "Are there any questions?" Ryou raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Bakura?"

"Will we have to use costumes?" Ryou asked in his sexy accent.

"No, you will not. Now," Mr. Clay continued, "pick your groups and come and tell me the scene you plan on doing." Joey turned to Yugi, "How about it Yug? You and Yami want to work with us? I'm sure those four will be working together." He pointed to Ryou and Malik and their yami's.

Yugi looked at Yami, "Well, how about it Yami?" He smiled at his darker half. "Please?" He then gave his puppy dog look.

"Ugh, Aibou that's not fair. You know I can't resist those eyes." Yugi started to whimper to add to the effect. Joey was laughing at the scene playing out before him. "Oh, alright."

"Yay! Arigatou Yami!" Yugi glomped him. Yami smiled and hugged his hikari, winking at Joey as he did so. Joey laughed. Yami could truly be evil sometimes.

"Okay," Seto spoke up, "Now that we have that covered. What scene do we want to do?"

"How about scene 3. The one with the fairy, Oberon, Titania and Puck?" Joey suggested. Everyone looked at him surprised.

"Um, pup, how did you know that they were in that scene without even looking in the book?" Seto questioned. A small blush crept over Joey's face. "Well.I-.you see." He began, trying to think of the best way to tell them that this play was in fact his most favorite one. "Spit it out, mutt."

"This is my favorite Shakespeare play. I can't help it." He replied. They all chuckled.

"Okay, that scene sounds fine to me." Yugi said. The other two nodded. "I'll go tell Mr. Clay that is the one we are doing." With that he went to the front of the class to let the teacher know.

As he was walking away, he was being stared at. "Look at that fine ass." Yami muttered.

"Not that there is anything wrong with it," Seto said, sneaking his arm around Joey's waist, "but I would prefer to stare at his ass." Joey's face went red with embarrassment. Yami chuckled. "That is understandable." Joey went an even deeper red.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked as he sat back down in his chair. Joey shook his head; "it's nothing Yug."

"Okay." Yugi said, dismissing it. "So, who will be who?"

"I'm Oberon!" Seto said in a final tone.

"I guess I will be Puck." Yugi said, "because he is suppose to be small, is he not?"

Yami and Joey groaned. That meant that they would have to be Titania or the Fairy. Before Joey could speak up however, Yami called the Fairy. "Damn it!" Joey cursed. "I don't want to be Titania."

"Oh why not Joey? It's perfect. Oberon and Titania are the king and queen. And there you and Seto are." Yugi grinned mischievously. "I'm sure we will have lots of fun."

"I concur." Yami agreed, but when Joey still looked down a bit he added, "Look on the bright side."

"There is a bright side?" Joey asked. Yami nodded and smiled, "At least you won't have to wear the costume." Joey sighed, knowing that the former Pharaoh was right. "Alright."

"Great. When should we get together and where?" Yugi asked.

"My place is out of the question." Joey said. Even though he knew his father had been going to rehab, it didn't mean he was totally out of the gutter. "So, that leaves Seto's mansion or the Game Shop."

"How about we just do it at my place." Kaiba said. "I have plenty of food and there is enough room."

"Alright." The tri-colored hikari said. "That just leaves when."

"Why not start today at about six?" Joey suggested. "That alright with everyone?"

Seto groaned he was hoping to spend today alone with his puppy. "I suppose. If everyone else is." The two look a likes nodded their approval. "Tonight at six then?" Another nods just as the bell rang.

"Okay, see ya then guys." Joey said as he and Seto took the path leading towards the other end of the school where the Tech and Gym wing were.

Okay, I am too lazy to write about their next class, so, I will just head to after school, how does that sound? 

After school

Joey sighed as he headed to the front entrance hall. 'Man, I never knew PE could be so difficult. Stupid Marik and his pranks.' He smiled as he saw the reason he was going to the entrance hall. "Seto!" He called to the tall brunette. The brunette waved at him as he came closer. "Ready to go?" He asked. The blond nodded.

They headed to Seto's car, but once they entered it Joey asked, "Um, Seto? I have to go home for some stuff. Plus I want to shower properly before going to your place. How about I meet you at about 4:30-5:00?"

"I suppose that would be okay." Seto answered, "At least we would get at least a hour alone before Yami and Yugi came over." Joey smiled. "Arigatou."

The drive to Joey's house was quick and nothing was said. They were just enjoying being in the presence of each other. When they arrived, Joey leaned over and gave Seto a kiss before getting out. He stood on the sidewalk as he watched his boyfriend drive off. 'Now, time to get my snack, have a shower and change.' He thought to himself as he walked up the stairs to his apartment.

When he came to his number, he was surprised to find it was unlocked. 'Dad must be home already.' He thought as he opened the door. "Hey Dad! I'm ho- ah!" He never got to finish those words because his drunken father pounced him on.

Kiawna: ::does a majorly huge yawn:: Okay, this chapter totally sucked.

Orli: It was okay.

Kiawna: ::gives him the death glare:: It would have been better if you helped more.

Orli: ::sighs:: I'm sorry. At any rate, this chapter was pretty damn long.

Kiawna: ::nods:: My fingers are sore.

Orli: ::pats::

Kiawna: ::yawns again:: OMG. I am so tired. ::looks at clock:: Eeep! It is 20 to 4 in the morning.

Orli: Really, I never noticed.

Kiawna: That is because you sleep during the day, you lazy ass muse.

Orli: Well excuuuuse me.

Kiawna: ::sighs:: Whatever. Where is Yami?

Yami: ::comes up from behind:: What?

Kiawna: ::nearly jumps out of her skin:: YAMI!!! DON'T DO THAT!!!

Orli: ::snickers::

Kiawna: Do the review message and add this. ::hands him a piece of paper::

Yami: Okay. You people know the drill. Review. However, in this review could you say whether you want to see Joey in gym class (with Malik, Marik and Tea ::shudders::) I might add. As well as say if you want her to just re- write it.

Kiawna: Trust me. I am willing to re-write most of it. Especially since I was up late most nights working on it.

Yami: So, review.

Kiawna: ::gets one last "please" in before she collapses and sleeps::

Orli: Come on Yami, let's get her to bed. ::they leave the room dragging a limp Kiawna with them::


	7. Projects Put On Hold

Kiawna: Thank you everyone for your reviews! I love you all!

Orli: After this chapter I hope they still love you.

Kiawna: Orli shush!

Yami: Why? What do you plan on doing this chapter?

Kiawna: Never you mind. You will find out soon enough.

Orli: I know what she is doing.

Kiawna: ::shuts Orli's mouth::

Orli: Mmmmph!

Yami: ::sighs:: Let's just get on with the chapter.

Kiawna: Good idea. Here it is.

Chapter 7: Projects put on hold

Joey lay face down holding his ribs and coughing out blood. This was the worst his father had ever beaten him.

Flashback

"Why are you home boy?" His father asked while punching him in the face. Joey's hand automatically shot up to where his father had hit him. "Well?" He persisted punching Joey in the gut.

"I had to change my school uniform." He replied doubling over and holding his stomach. His father started to kick him. 'What happened?' He thought as his father started to kick him in the ribs repeatedly. 'He must not have got a job and went to drink.' He winced as he heard and felt a couple of his ribs crack, 'I will not cry though.' He just whimpered, "Dad, please stop."

"You lied to me. You said you wouldn't be home." He yelled, "And here you are." He gave one last kick to Joey's ribs as he said, "You better be gone by the time I get back." With that he left, slamming the door of the apartment.

End Flashback

Joey coughed again, sputtering more blood on the floor. He winced at the pain in his ribs while he reached for the phone. There was one person he thought of.

Seto heard the phone ring and picked it up. "Kaiba here." He answered. "Seto." He heard a familiar weak voice on the other end. "Help." His eyes went wide as he began to panic. It was Joey.

"Joey!" He yelled into the receiver. No answer. "Joey!" He called again, still no answer. He began to panic some more. He yelled one more time. "Damn it Joey answer me." For the third time there was no answer. Seto slammed down the phone, was out the front door and in his car faster than you could say Kuribou.

Seto got to Joey's in record time. He ran every red light and sped the whole way there. 'Damn it, this is all my fault. I should have went in with him.' He continued to curse himself as he ran up the steps two at a time to Joey's apartment. When he reached there, he just burst in through the doors.

The site that reached his eyes was not a pleasant one. There, lying unconscous beside the phone was Joey. "Oh my god, Joey!" He ran to Joey and made so Joey's head was resting in his lap. "Damn it Joey don't quit on me." He quickly grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911. When he was done that he called Yugi.

"Hello?" an older voice said.

"Yami! Go to the hospital and wait there for me."

"What? Seto, why? What's wrong?" The ex-pharaoh asked.

"Joey has been beaten up and I am waiting for the ambulance." As if on cue, the sounds of sirens were coming his way and he heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. "Never mind, the paramedics are here. Just go to the hospital, I am going to go with Joey."

"Alright Seto. I will get Yugi. You want me to call the others?" Yami asked. Seto agreed and hung up the phone. "Be careful with him!" He yelled at the paramedics as they lifted Joey onto the stretcher. "Or I will have you fired!" They did as they were told, not wanting to mess with him.

Ten minutes later they were at the hospital and Joey was rushed to the ER. Seto paced in the waiting room, waiting for the doctors to come out and tell him Joey's condition. It felt like it had been hours when he heard someone call him. "Seto!" He turned around and saw all of Joey's friends come towards him.

"What's his condition?" Ryou asked, with tear stained cheeks.

"The doctors haven't come out yet. He better make it. He looked pretty bad."

"What happened?" Malik asked, being held by his yami. Seto just shrugged and looked down. "I don't know." He whispered. "I dropped him off at his place, and a half hour later he is calling me. The only words he said were, Seto and Help."

Yugi placed his hand on Seto's shoulder. "He will be fine. He is a tough person." He said, doing his best to comfort Seto. "Where is Mokuba?" Seto's eyes shot up. He had forgotten about Mokuba in all this commotion. "Damn it." He said, "I can't leave though. I don't want to leave Joey."

"Don't worry Seto." Ryou said. "Is he at school?" Seto nodded. "I'll go get him."

"I'll come with you." Bakura said. Ryou was in no mood to argue with his yami, so he allowed the white haired boy to follow him.

Marik spoke up for the first time since getting there, "Who did this to him? I swear, I will kill the person who did it." His voice was full of hate towards the person who did this to Joey.

"His father." Were Seto's only words as he looked at the door that Joey had gone through an hour ago.

"His father!" Yami said, also speaking for the first time since they got there. "So that is why he didn't want us going to his place." It all began to make sense to them. They had never been able to go over to Joey's place because he was always coming up with excuses. When really, he was trying to protect his friends or himself.

Yugi was sobbing into his darker half's chest now. "Why didn't we see it before? He was always coming to school with bruises on his face and arms." Yami was rubbing his back as Yugi spoke, "He always came up with the excuse that he was in a fight on the way to school or he fell."

"You mean he never told you that his father beat him?" Seto looked at Yugi with surprise. Yugi shook his head, as did the rest of them. Seto was about to say more when the doctor came out. Seto hurried to him, "How is he? What is his condition?" He asked.

"Mr. Wheeler has a couple of broken ribs, and is bleeding internally." Everyone gasped. "We have to operate, but." The doctor trailed off.

"But what?" Seto asked, his voice dangerous. The doctor stuttered a bit, "B- but Mr. Wheeler doesn't have the money to pay for the operation. This isn't the first time he has been in here. His father refuses to pay the bills."

"Give him the operation. Don't you know who I am?" Seto asked, his glare could have killed if glares could kill. As if the doctor's eyes just opened, he gasped. "M-Mr. Kaiba."

"That is correct, now if you don't get Joey into surgery, I will personally see to it that you will be fired." His voice was calm, but dangerous.

"But the bill." The doctor said his voice just as calm, but the look in his eyes told everyone he was frightened.

"I will pay the bill." Seto said. "Now get in there." The doctor nodded and without another word was in the room, preparing Joey. When the doctor left Seto whispered to himself, "Damn it Joey, don't leave me."

Everyone was sitting down by now. Malik and Yugi had fallen asleep in their yami's lap. Marik and Yami were staring out in space, thinking while Seto was staring at the door to the room that had Joey.

"We're back." A voice said. "Sorry it took so long."

"Big brother!" Mokuba cried as he ran to hug his older brother. "Ryou told me most of what happened. Is Joey going to be okay?"

"I hope so Mokuba." Seto said, pulling his brother into his lap.

"What is his condition?" Bakura asked, "Have they come out yet?"

"He is in surgery. And he has a couple of broken ribs." Yami answered for Seto.

"What! Why?" Ryou asked. "Why is he in surgery?"

"Because he is bleeding internally and the doctors had to stop it." Marik answered.

"Who did this to him?" Bakura asked, in the same tone Marik had.

"His father." Yugi whispered, having woken up from all the noise. "But don't do anything until Joey gets out and is awake." He pleaded.

"We won't Yugi." Bakura told him as he sat down on Marik's other side, Ryou sitting in his lap. "I swear though, I will kill him if I have to."

Mokuba looked at his brother, "You have been awfully quiet, Seto. You okay?" Seto was brought out of his thought by the voice of his brother. "Huh, yeah. I'll be all right. I am just worried is all." Normally Mokuba would tease him about being worried, but he understood.

Yami, you think Joey will be okay? Yugi asked Yami through their link.

Of course aibou. Joey is strong, a little thing like this won't bring him down for good. Yami answered, trying to convince himself almost as much as he was trying to convince Yugi. 'Don't make me a liar, Joey.' He thought, looking at the door.

It had been 2 hours since Joey had gone into surgery. Once again the hikari's were sleeping, as well as Mokuba. Marik and Bakura were discussing ways to get back at Joey's father.

"Hey, Kaiba. I am going to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. You want anything?" Yami asked as he gently placed Yugi in the warm chair, being careful not to wake him. Seto just shook his head. "All right, I will be back in a few." With that, Yami left, leaving Seto to his own thoughts.

'I will never forgive his father if anything goes wrong.' Seto thought. 'Hell, I won't forgive myself. I left him, knowing what his father was capable of.'

Like he said, Yami was back a few minutes later with 2 cups, one of coffee and one of hot chocolate. He placed the cups on the table beside his chair and gently lifted Yugi back up and on his lap. Yugi stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. He just snuggled closer to Yami. He sighed and held Yugi tight. He didn't know what would happen if Yugi was in a situation like this. 'How can Kaiba be so calm.'

As calm as Yami thought Kaiba was, he was wrong. Kaiba was just keeping his calm exterior. Inside he was panicking and worrying. He had been panicking ever since Joey had called him. The length of time wasn't helping either. "Damn it what is taking so long?" He yelled. Startling everyone that was asleep, awake.

"Kaiba, the longer it takes probably means the better job they are doing." Yami said. Kaiba sighed. The ancient pharaoh was right. "I just can't stand sitting here worrying." He whispered. Trying to comfort him, Yami put a hand on Kaiba's shoulder. "He will be all right." Kaiba just nodded.

"Um.Mr. Kaiba?" Kaiba's head shot up. "Mr. Wheeler made it through the surgery all right. He is in resting right now. You may go see him, but please, don't make too much noise, he needs his rest." They nodded their understanding, before Seto pretty much ran to where Joey was recovering.

He burst into the room and was quickly at Joey's side. "Joey?" He whispered. He grabbed Joey's hand, "Come on pup. Wake up, let me know you are really okay." The others were quietly entering the room. They all sat in basically the same position they were in while in the waiting room. Mokuba sat at Yami's feet, not wanting to disturb his brother.

Seto laid his head down on the hand he was holding. He let a few tears drop to the hand, but made sure no one in the room saw it. He would only let Joey feel his tears. Joey just lay there motionless. Tubes were coming out of his body. 'Damn it Joey, wake up. Please." He thought as he squeezed his hand. He placed kisses on Joey's hand. 'Please, pup. Wake up for me?' He wanted Joey to wake up. He wanted to see his smiling face, his beautiful brown eyes. He didn't want to, but he did. He cried. His shoulders shook and he just let the tears flow.

"Seto?" He heard a quiet voice and then felt two small arms wrap around his waist, hugging him. "Joey will be okay. He is tough." Using his free hand, he pulled Mokuba closer, not wanting to lose him too. He never took his eyes off of his blond puppy, so he never saw three hikari's crying silent tears into their yami's chest. They couldn't stand seeing their friend like this. He didn't deserve it. Joey was nothing but kind and protective towards them. They all knew in their hearts that Joey was going to be all right, but they still couldn't help crying.

About an hour later, Yami quietly stated that they should go and let Joey rest. "Kaiba, are you going to come too?" He asked.

"I want to stay with him." He stated. Yami understood. "All right, would you like us to take Mokuba?" He asked, for the little boy had fallen asleep in his brother's lap. Kaiba nodded and gently gave Mokuba to Yami. "Make sure he gets to school tomorrow." Yami nodded and headed out to where the others were waiting. "Come on guys, let's get this little one to bed." Everyone agreed and they all left the hospital, silently agreeing to return after school tomorrow, with Mokuba.

Seto put his head back down. He wasn't going to leave Joey's side. He knew it felt weird, but he trusted Yami with Mokuba. Yami had been nothing but understanding and caring towards him, even though they were suppose to be rivals. 'I suppose we just decided on a friendship silently.' He thought to himself before falling into a deep slumber.

"Get in here, you worthless piece of crap!" He heard his stepfather yell. Seto slowly and cautiously made his way into the room where Gozubaru was. The cautiousness was all in vein, for he grabbed Seto and flung him to the floor, where he was kicked and punished for absolutely no reason. "What do I have to do to teach you to obey me?" Gozubaru asked, punching him. "How many times have I told you to always be where I can see you?" Seto winced as he was kicked again.

"I-I'm sorry." He cried. "It won't h-happen again." The cries were in vein as well. Gozubaru just continued to punch him and kick him.

"Why did I even adopt you? You are a useless being. You will never fulfill my expectations. You are nothing. You understand that? Nothing!" He gave one last kick before leaving the room.

Seto lay on the floor. Too scared to move. He was scared he might come back and start to beat him again. He regretted his decision for challenging his stepfather to a chess match. He wished he never won. He would have had a better life.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his head. "No, please don't hurt me anymore. I won't disobey you again. I'm sorry. Don't hurt me." He sobbed. He felt strong, gentle arms wrap around him and bring him close.

"Shh. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I will protect you and Mokuba." That voice. He knew that voice. He looked up at the person who was holding him so gently through blurry eyes. "Joey?" He whispered. Joey nodded. "But I thought you were hurt."

"It's all right. I will be okay."

"Joey."

"Seto." He heard his voice being called. "Seto, wake up." Slowly he opened his eyes. There, sitting up, with his hand on Seto's head, gently petting it, was Joey.

"Joey." He carefully hugged him, not wanting to cause him anymore pain. "Joey are you okay?" Joey just held him close and whispered. "I will be fine. I'm worried about you."

"Me? Why me?" He asked confused.

"Because you were saying, 'don't hurt me. Please stop' and stuff like that." Joey looked at his boyfriend with those beautiful brown eyes that Seto had wanted to see. Seto just buried his face in Joey's neck. Why was he doing this? He should be comforting Joey, not the other way. "Seto, what is it?"

"M-my father beat me when I was younger." Joey felt hot tears on his neck and held Seto closer. "W-when I saw you, I was so worried. I-I didn't want to believe that someone could hurt you. Like they did me." Joey was rubbing his back.

"Shush. I'm going to be okay. Just a few broken ribs, along with some stitches that I have to be careful not to rip out by accident."

"Joey, was it your father who did this to you?" Seto asked seriously. Joey looked down at his feet and nodded. "Damn it, why?"

"I don't know. Yesterday I found out that he was going to AA meetings. When I woke up this morning, he had left me a note and told him to leave a note if I wasn't going to be home, so I did. However, after you dropped me off at home to change my uniform, my dad just went ballistic and called me a liar. I didn't expect him home because he was out looking for a job." Joey's voice was getting weaker, he didn't want to cry. "I suspect that when he didn't get the first job he tried for, he went to a bar and started drinking. My dad never was patient." He felt the tears fall down his cheeks, then he felt them being wiped away.

"Joey, stay with me and Mokuba for a while." Seto said, holding Joey's cheek. "At least until your dad calms down or gets his alcohol problem under control."

"I-I don't know, Seto." Joey said, leaning into the touch. "What if he finds out where I am and he comes after you? I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

"Nothing will happen. I will talk to your dad when he is sober."

"What if it takes more than a few weeks for my dad to control it? My sister is coming in the first day of break."

"She can stay with us. Gods know I have enough room." Joey smiled. Seto continued on, seriously again. "Joey, I just don't want anything bad to happen to you." He paused for a moment, then quietly added, "I love you too much to let anything bad to happen to you."

Joey brought his hand up to Seto's cheek, forcing him to look at him and whispered, "I love you, too. And I guess I can stay at your place for a few weeks." Seto smiled before he closed the distance between them in a long, passionate kiss.

Seto: HOW DARE YOU LET MY PUPPY GET HURT!!!

Kiawna: ::is hiding behind Yami from an angry Seto and reviewers:: Gomen Seto. Don't let the reviewers do anything bad to me.

Orli: Hey, it was your fault. They asked you not to let Joey get hurt, but did you listen, noooo. You just had to go and let his father beat him.

Kiawna: ::glares at Orli:: And whose idea was it? Who is the one that inspires me to write?

Orli: Umm..uhh.::also hides behind Yami:: Gomen!

Seto: ORLI!!!

Orli: Y-yes, S-Seto?

Seto: How could you inspire her to write something like that?

Orli: It was the mood I was in last night, all right?

Yami: ::sighs:: Will you two ever learn?

Kiawna: Probably not. ::peeps at reviewers and Seto:: I hope the end made up for the beginning though.

Yami: I didn't mind it one bit. The whole thing was written pretty well.

Orli: ::mumbles:: The stuff with you and Yugi you mean.

Yami: ::grabs Orli and holds him out for angry reviewers:: You were saying?

Orli: Eeep!

Yami: Okay, review please, she is accepting all reviews, don't worry. And here is a target for you to throw all your fruits and stuff at.

Kiawna: I accept all kinds of stuff!

Yami: ::sweatdrop:: I don't think you will be getting any gifts this chapter.

Kiawna: ::pouts behind Yami::


	8. A Surprise Party To Plan And A Puppy To ...

Kiawna: Yaay! I have finally started this chapter. I mean, completed this chapter! does mini circles

Orli: Yea, finally!

Kiawna: throws pillows at Orli you hush! You haven't been giving me much help.

Orli: Humph.

Kiawna: sighs All right people, I won't bother you with boring head notes. All I have to say is "THANK YOU!!!" I have really appreciated your reviews and eagerness for me to continue. TT I feel so happy!! glomps all of the reviewers As a sign of my appreciation, I am hoping to get 2 chapters up next time. So, read on! sits in inflatable chair with Hakumei beside her

CHAPTER 8: A Surprise Party To Plan and A Puppy To Visit

It had been a week since Joey had arrived in the hospital. Everyday Seto had come by. He told Joey that they got perfect on their Astronomy presentation. He was also surprised when Seto said that he didn't lose marks for not being there.

Joey had been told that he wouldn't be released from the hospital until Winter break. So, when he told Seto, he arranged for them to work on their Comparative Civilization project while he was in the hospital. Naturally, the doctors weren't pleased with this, but Seto has his way of making them see things his way.

It was lucky for them that they didn't have to present this project. When Seto handed it in, he was told that the marks wouldn't be given until after break. Today was Wednesday. He would be allowed out Friday when Seto came and got him. He still wasn't sure how his dad would take the news of him moving in with Seto, but he had to tell him. Seto had told him during lunch that he wouldn't be in after school until late. Unfortunately for him, it was only 11:30pm. Yugi and the others said that they would come visit him today after school. That meant that he had about three and half-hours before his friends would be there. 'I might as well take a nap.' Joey thought as he closed his eyes.

About an hour later he felt the end of his bed shift. "Seto?" he asked, as he cracked an eye open to look at the clock. The red numbers read 12:30pm. It was way too early for Seto or even his friends to be there. To adjust his eyes to the light, Joey blinked a few times. When adjusted, he looked to the end of his bed where the figure sat. In his opinion, it was the last person he would expect to see. "Dad!?"

"Hi Joey." His farther replied quietly. "How are you?"

"How am I?" Joey replied, hardly believing his ears. "Dad, you beat me. I have a couple of broken ribs and I was bleeding internally. If Seto hadn't of-" He tried to gain his composure, because his voce had cracked. He took a deep breath, and just remembered what his boyfriend had done. "If Seto hadn't paid for the bill, then I would be dead." He held back the tears.

"Joey, I-I am really, really sorry." His father said, not looking into Joey's eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I went for an interview, didn't get the job and went out to drink. It hurt me when I remembered what I did to you. I couldn't believe myself." He looked up into his son's honey eyes, "You have to believe me Joey. I was taking AA courses for your safety."

"I know." Joey said, interrupting his dad. "I heard the message the day you left. It was right before Serenity's message."

"Serenity? I didn't know she called."

"I never got a chance to tell you. She is coming up for the winter break."

"That is perfect."

"Why?" Joey asked, not understanding.

"While I was thinking over the past week, I was also searching for a place I could get help." Mr. Wheeler explained. "I found one, but it is in the States. They provide a job, and courses to help me stop drinking. The only problem is-"

"You don't have the money to get there and pay for it." Joey finished. His father nodded. "Dad. What can I do? I don't get very much. I would love to help you." He sighed.

"I don't want you to spend your money on me Joey. Besides, even if I did go, who would take care of you and Serenity over the holidays?"

Joey did a halfhearted laugh. "Dad, if I have a place to stay, and a way for you to get there, will you go?" His father nodded. "Okay, come back tomorrow. I should have everything arranged by then."

"Okay. Thank you Joey." His father said, rising from his seat. "For everything, putting up with me all these years. I was surprised your friends didn't try to come after me. I will see you tomorrow Joey."

"All right dad." Joey sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes. Now all he had to do was talk to Seto. He was pretty sure he knew Seto's answer. After all, it was his idea that Joey goes and stays with him, now he will have a good excuse.

Just as he was about to lie down and take a longer nap, his friends arrived. "Hey Joey! How's it going?" Yugi asked as he walked in with Yami and the rest.

Joey smiled at his tiny friend. It's going great Yug! How about you guys?" Everyone murmured his own reply. "Hey, any of you have any leftovers from lunch? The food here stinks. And that is saying something coming from me." He winked at them.

"Here you are Joey." Ryou said as he handed over his lunch. Everyone looked at Ryou and Bakura blinked in surprise. "How come you still have your full lunch?" He asked.

"Well, I was distracted during lunch and wasn't really hungry." Ryou replied.

"You promised me you were going to eat your lunches."

"I'm sorry Kura." He said, purposely sounding guilty and upset. "I'll try to next time."

"Oh Ryou, I'm sorry." Bakura grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "I didn't mean to get angry." Ryou just winked at everyone behind Bakura. They all smiled and tried not to burst out laughing.

"So Joey, when do you get out?" Yami asked, looking away from the albino haired duo.

Joey lifted his head from the sandwich he was eating.or stuffing down his throat. "Didn't Seto tell you?" He asked confused. They all shook their heads.

"To be honest Joey, we haven't seen him at school for the past week." Malik mentioned.

"Why, where has he been?" Joey asked, concerned.

"Well, I remember him telling us that he was going to-mmmph." Yugi started, but everyone else's hands quickly covered his mouth. Joey looked at them with raised eyebrows. "Was going to what?" He asked, forgetting about the food in his hand.

"Was going to do some extra work at home." Yami quickly put in. "It's nothing to worry about." He said, and bit back a moan as Yugi licked his palm slowly.

"Oh. Okay. Maybe that has been why he hasn't been able to visit me for longer." Joey said, with a bit of hurt in his voice. Yugi sat on his bed. "Don't worry Joey, I am sure it is for a very good reason." He reassured his friend, having finally been released.

"I guess you're right Yug. Thanks." Joey said, although he made it a point to ask Seto later about it. He looked at the clock. "Wow, 5 o'clock already?"

"Five o'clock!" They all exclaimed at once. Then Yugi quickly added, "Sorry Joey. We gotta go. It was nice to see you again. Bye." And before Joey could reply they were all out the door.

"Well that was weird." He said out loud and lay down, for that past hour and a half had given him a headache.

'Okay, I have arranged for Serenity to get picked up at the airport and the others are coming over around five to help me decorate some rooms for Joey's return party.' Seto thinking to himself as he arranged to have all his work at Kaiba Corp to be taken care of over the holidays. He had taken Mokuba's and Joey's advice to take the two weeks off, although he was giving himself a break and taking three weeks.

He had spoken with the teachers on Monday and they allowed him to take the week off, but he was given plenty of homework from those classes he didn't have projects in anymore. He sighed. When he found out that Joey was getting out of the hospital on Friday, he had arranged for his sister, Serenity to come in early because she wasn't suppose to get here until the Monday after. All that was left on his list to do before the others had got there was to call Joey's dad. He picked up the phone and dialed Joey's number.

"Wheeler residence. Jonathan speaking." Kaiba heard Joey's father say into the phone. 'Well, he sounds sober.'

"Hello Mr. Wheeler, this is Seto Kaiba. Joey's." He paused, he wasn't sure if Joey wanted his father knowing about their relationship yet. "Friend from school."

"Hello, what can I do for you. I am afraid Joey can't come to the phone because," His voice sounded as though he was about to cry. He cleared his throat. "Joey is in the hospital."

"I know." Seto said in a quiet voice. "He told me everything." He was sure that Jonathan Wheeler's eyes were the size of saucers. So he quickly finished. "I am not going to do anything. I just want to talk to you."

"All right." His voice was tight. "Where would you like to talk?" Seto looked at the clock. It was 2:30pm. He had two and a half hours before Yami and the rest would be here. "How about we meet in the park by the lake? And I swear it is just to talk, I wouldn't do anything to hurt Joey or his family." 'He is too precious to me to do anything like that.'

"I'll be there." They said their good-byes and hung up the phone. Seto grabbed his car keys and left the house for the park. It took about 5 minutes to get there. Parking within a 2 minute walking distance to the lake, he got out and headed to sit on the bench.

About 5 minutes later, Joey saw a man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes come up to him. "Mr. Wheeler, I assume?" Seto said getting up to shake Jon's hand. Jonathan took it. "I am Seto Kaiba."

"I have heard a lot about you on the news." Jonathan stated as he sat down. He chuckled a bit. "You sure are being nicer than you are made out on the news."

"To be honest, Joey has changed me." Seto said, hiding a smile. "The reason I asked you to come down here is I want to help you."

Jonathan's eyes widened. "But why? I am just a drunken bastard that can't control himself."

"I know. That is why I want to help you. It will be protecting not only Serenity and Joey, but yourself as well."

"I want to protect them. They are my lifelines, but I don't have the money to go to the states. And if I did, there would be no way to go if Joey didn't have a place to stay."

"That has already been arranged." Seto responded. "I was talking to Joey about it last week. I offered for him to come and stay with me. Gods know I have enough room."

"What about Serenity? She is coming for the winter."

"I have arranged that already. Do you know how much it is for that program you were talking about?"

"It is 3000 American, but I don't have that kind of money." Jonathan stated. "It's bad enough that Joey pays the rent and what we need bill wise."

Seto looked at the man beside him. "I'll pay for it."

"I couldn't ask that of you." Then something hit him. Joey said that he could arrange for him to go to the states. "You must be who Joey was going to ask." He said. Seto looked at him confused. "I went to see Joey earlier. I was surprised he didn't kick me out. But he said that I should come back tomorrow and everything should be arranged."

Seto chuckled to himself, 'So the puppy was going to ask me about this, huh? I should let him ask me. I will have to tell Mr. Wheeler not to mention anything about this meeting to Joey.' He looked at Mr. Wheeler. "Now this is a coincidence."

Jonathan laughed. "Why do I have a gut feeling you are more than just a friend to my son?" He saw the blush that crossed Seto's nose. "Come to think of it, that would explain why he said your name when he felt me sit on his bed." Seto looked a bit panicked. "Now don't you worry. I am not a homophobic. I believe that love is love, no matter who or what gender it is with."

Seto's blush grew deeper, even though the panic was gone. "Thank you," he whispered so quietly that Jonathan didn't hear him.

"Just take care of him treat him right. He has been through too much. More than he deserves. He has had his heart broken by his mother, he doesn't deserve another one." Jonathan lectured. "But I don't think I need to worry about that. You seem to be a very loyal person. I feel that he will be safe with you."

"He will be." Seto said, thinking, 'I love him too much to let something he doesn't deserve happen.' "Now, what will be a good time for you to leave?"

"Knowing Joey is safe and Serenity has a place to stay when she gets here, I could leave after I talk to Joey tomorrow."

"I will be seeing him tonight." Seto looked at his watch. It was 4:55. 'Wow, I have been talking to him for nearly 2 and a half hours.' "So, shall we say, 5pm tomorrow?"

"That's sounds fine." He replied as they got up. "And thank you so very much for all you have done. I don't know how to thank you enough." He said as he shook Seto's hand.

"It's no problem Mr. Wheeler." Seto replied. Jonathan said thank you again and left. Once he was gone Seto said, "I would do anything for Joey." He headed towards his car and went home. Yami and the rest would be arriving from the hospital any minute. He was hoping that they hadn't said anything to give his surprise away.

When he walked into the house he was nearly knocked over. "Hello Mokuba. How was your day?" He asked his younger brother affectionately.

"Hi, big brother! It was awesome." Mokuba said as he pulled away. "How is Joey's surprise party going?"

"So far, so good. Now, we just have to wait until the rest get here to decorate." Just when he said that, the doorbell rang. "Okay, now we don't have to wait." He turned around and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was 6 heavily breathing teenage boys. He raised an eyebrow at them, "What did you do? Run a marathon to get here?" He stepped aside to let them in.

"No, we were just at the hospital and we lost track of time, so we ran to get here." Bakura said testily.

"You didn't tell him anything did you?" Seto asked.

"Little Yugi here was about to, but we all covered his mouth before he said anything." Marik said.

"Didn't he get suspicious?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes, but I told him that you had a lot of work to do, so you weren't in school the past week." Yami replied. "He sounded a bit hurt though."

"Yeah, he said 'Maybe that has been why he hasn't been able to visit me for longer.' He sounded hurt when he said that." Ryou explained.

"Oh no. I have been spending so much time this past week on his party that I haven't been able to visit him until late. Then I wasn't able to stay longer because visiting hours were up." Seto said, worried. "Maybe I should go earlier today."

"That would be a good idea." Yugi said. "Why don't you go now? Mokuba is here, and we can get everything decorated while you go visit him. That way you can stay longer."

Seto thought about it for a minute. "You're right Yugi." He grabbed his car keys again. "I will see you later." And he was out the door and heading towards the hospital.

Seto arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later. He didn't need directions to Joey's room, so he just went past the receptionist towards his room. When he arrived, he opened the door quietly just in case Joey was sleeping. Sure enough, there, in the bed, was his golden haired puppy. He smiled, loving how Joey looked when he slept. He could honestly spend hours watching him, but not today.

Seto walked quietly up to the bed and bent over Joey. He got close enough to feel Joey's breath against his lips before capturing Joey's. It wasn't long before Joey woke up. When Seto ran his tongue against Joey's bottom lip, Joey was quick to respond. Seto's tongue explored every bit of Joey's mouth. He let out a small moan when he felt Joey's tongue massages his. The kiss lasted a bit longer before they had to pull away for air. "Good evening." Seto said, not moving away from Joey. Joey smiled and placed a light kiss on Seto's lips. "Good evening to you too. What time is it?"

"6 o'clock." Seto replied, finally sitting beside Joey. "I missed you, so I decided to drop everything and visit you. And I am not leaving until you say so."

"I missed you, too." Joey thought of something, it sounded stupid to ask, but he was going to ask it. "I miss you holding me." Joey smiled. He didn't have to ask the question, because Seto moved so that he could hold Joey. "Thank you." Joey whispered, loving the feel of Seto's arms around him.

"Anything for my pup." Seto whispered back, kissing the top of Joey's head.

"Anything?" Joey asked. Seto smiled, he knew what was going to be asked.

"Yes anything." Seto said. "And there is no reason to ask me about your dad, because everything has been arranged. I talked to him earlier. He is going to leave at about 5 tomorrow. After he visits you."

Joey was speechless. He moved so he was able to look into Seto's eyes. "Really?" He said, sounding breathless. Seto smiled and nodded. The next thing he knew was Joey was kissing him, again. Not that he minded. He smiled into the kiss, and was about to respond when Joey pulled away. "What did you tell him? I mean, about us?"

"I didn't tell him anything. He figured it out on his own." Seto smirked as he felt Joey relax. "He is alright with it." He kissed Joey lightly. "Everything is going to be okay."

Joey smiled, but it soon faded remembering what Malik said. "Seto, why haven't you been at school this past week?" He felt Seto tense.

"Well, umm, you see." Seto, for once in his life, wasn't prepared to answer something. "Well, I have had a lot of Kaiba Corp work to do. So I took the week off from school to finish it before the holidays."

Joey eyed him suspiciously. "Well, won't you have a lot of school work to catch up on then?"

"Yes, but that stuff is easy." Joey seemed to accept that answer because he went back to cuddling close to Seto. Seto let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "What other reason would I have for not coming to see you from the moment I get out of school to the moment visiting hours are over?" He asked, holding Joey tighter.

"I guess I just wasn't thinking." Joey replied, wrapping his arms around Seto's waist. "It's just I have missed you a lot. For once in my life I want to be in school. I have a reason to go." He smiled and hugged Seto.

"Well, you get out of the hospital on Friday. Just one more day." Seto said, loving just being able to hold Joey. "I will come and get you at noon."

Joey sighed. He wished that Seto could stay the night. He didn't want to be alone again. He felt tears escaping his eyes. Seto felt them and gently lifted Joey's head to look at him. "Pup, what's wrong?" He asked, concerned. Joey buried his face in Seto's chest. "I don't want to be alone again tonight." He said. "I want you to stay. I want to stay in your arms for the night. I feel safe when I'm with you. I don't want to lose that feeling."

Seto held him tightly to him. "I won't leave you pup. I love you. I won't let anything bad happen." He kissed the top of his head. "I will see what I can do to stay the night. I don't think they will reject a request from me." He heard Joey laugh and smiled.

Joey sighed again, "I know. I love you, too." He rested his head against Seto's chest and let his eyes shut. They stayed like that for another couple hours. Enjoying the company of the other.

Around 9:30 he could feel the light breathing of Joey. 'Silly pup must have fell asleep.' Seto thought. 'I better call the others and tell them I won't be back tonight.' He took out his cell phone and dialed his home number.

"Hello?" He heard his brothers voice answer.

"Hi Mokuba."

"Big Brother! Where are you? Isn't visiting hours over?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes, but I am staying with Joey. He asked me to and the doctors have allowed me to stay."

"Okay Seto. Oh, just a second." Seto heard muffled voices on the other end. 'What are you up to now kid?' He thought to himself before Mokuba came on the line. "Seto?" He said in the voice he only used when he wanted something.

"Yes Mokuba?" He replied.

"Can Yugi and the others stay the night since you aren't coming home? I don't want to be in the mansion by myself."

Seto sighed, he saw this coming. "All right, but no staying up late and you are to go to school tomorrow."

"Yaay! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, now put Yami on." He didn't know why, but he and Yami had developed an unspoken friendship. He would have asked Yugi, but Yami had more power than Yugi did over some things.

"Okay. Bye Seto."

Seto waited while Mokuba got Yami and handed the phone to him. "Seto?" Yami's deep voice answered.

"Yami, can you watch them. Make sure they don't burn down anything?" He assumed Yami knew which 'them' he was talking about.

Yami chuckled. "Of course. I will also make sure Mokuba gets to school on time."

Seto smiled, he knew he could count on Yami. Suddenly he felt Joey shiver and cry out. "Yami, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Why, what's wrong?" Yami asked, concern obvious in his voice.

"I think Joey is having a nightmare."

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow." They both hung up the phone. Seto put his hand on Joey's head "Joey." He said quietly while petting his hair. "Joey, pup." He heard Joey whimper and reach out. He was calling Seto's name. "Shhh, pup. It's okay, I am right here." He said in a soothing voice, trying to calm him down. He held Joey tightly. "I'm not going to leave you." He felt Joey grip a handful of his shirt in each fist, before finally calming down and falling into more pleasant dreams. Seto kissed the top of Joey's head and whispered, "I love you." It wasn't long before Seto joined Joey in his slumber.

Kiawna: Yaay!! I finished it! Finally! I hope you liked it.

Orli: I thought it was one of your best.

Kiawna: blushes You're just saying that.

Orli: turns to Shisou What do you think?

Shisou: blinks

Orli: Never mind. Yami, what about you?

Yami: is looking at his palm

Orli, Kiawna and Shisou: sweatdrop

Kiawna: I don't believe you Yami! Sheesh!

Yami: looks away from his hand What?

Kiawna: Never mind. looks at readers I hate to say this, but I probably won't get the next chapters up until around Spring Break since I am starting a new semester on Monday and probably won't have time until then to work on it. However, I am hoping to get two chapters done to reward your patience with me on this chapter. hands everyone a plushie

Orli: I am willing to help you finish this story. If you only want to have 10 chapters, then you will have to do a sequel.or really long chapters 9 and 10.

Kiawna: I have decided that, when I finish, I finish.

Yami: Good for you.

Kiawna: Although it means waiting longer for yours and Yugi's story that Orli has given me a brilliant idea for.

Yami: looks at Orli

Orli: grins I have given her more than that.

Kiawna: starts counting the number of ideas Yami/Yugi and Yami/Joey for YGO and counts at least 4 other ideas for different stories. tries to avoid fainting I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Orli: I'm sorry. I had sugar and my mind just went wild.

Yami: blinks at the second idea Me and Joey????

Kiawna: Yeah, but we will go talk about that later. Read.

Yami: No. Talk now.

Kiawna: holds a life sized Yugi Plushie in front of her Then whoever am I going to give this to?

Yami: really big eyes and jumping up and down MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME!!!!

Kiawna: But you don't want to read.

Yami: I'LL READ!!! I'LL READ!!!!

Kiawna: winks at Orli Okay, here you go. hands script

Yami: distractedly reads Review. She absolutely loves hearing your opinions, good and bad. So please press that button down on the left. turns to Kiawna Now can I have him?

Kiawna: Yes. hands over life sized Yugi There you are. turns to readers as Yami cuddles the plushie Bye for now!


	9. Let the Party Begin

Kiawna: O.O HOLY!!! It has been nearly 4 months since I updated? ::hides from readers:: GOMEN!!! Here is the chapter!!

LET THE PARTY BEGIN

Seto woke up the next morning next to his puppy. He smiled down at him and kissed him lightly on his head. Joey just cuddled closer to him. 'So cute.' Seto thought. 'By now, Serenity should be at the mansion. Joey's dad will be coming to visit around 3. It would be so much easier if he could just come to the--' Seto's eyes widened. 'It would be easier wouldn't it?' He shifted so he could reach his cell phone. He made sure that Joey was still sleeping before dialing his number.

He heard the phone being picked up, before Jonathan's voice answered. "Hello?"

"Good morning Mr. Wheeler." Seto looked at his watch. 6:30am. No wonder his puppy was still sleeping. "Gomen for phoning so early. It is Seto."

"Good morning Seto. What can I do for you?"

"Well..." he looked to make sure Joey was still sleeping peacefully. He then turned his head so that he was talking away from Joey and lowered his voice. "I just thought about making things easier. Joey gets out of the hospital today, and I have a surprised party planned for him."

"Wow. What can I do to help?"

"You can go to my mansion instead of coming here." Seto replied, keeping his voice low. He checked to make sure Joey was still asleep. When Joey mentioned something about pizza in his sleep, he grinned and continued. "Serenity should be there by now. If you could go there and tell them to be ready by 12:30pm, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Sure thing, Seto." Mr. Wheeler replied. "I will get over there soon."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Mr. Wheeler and Seto said their good-byes and hung up their respective phones. 'Now, maybe I can get at least another couple hours of sleep. It is only 7am.' He yawned and cuddled closely to his pup, falling back to sleep quickly.

The sun shone brightly through the window in the hospital room. The beam of it hit Joey's face. He attempted to hide his face in Seto's chest so he could continue to sleep, but no such luck. Yawning, he slowly opened his eyes. He loved the site he awoke to. Seto was lying next to him on his side. He was facing away from the sun, facing Joey. It was a beautiful site. His chestnut locks had fallen into his face and his arm was over Joey's waist. Smiling, Joey leaned up and placed a small kiss on Seto's lips.

"Seto." He whispered. "I think you should be waking up now." He was surprised that Seto wasn't the first one up. When Seto didn't move, Joey decided to see if he was ticklish. He moved so he had easy access to Seto's ribs. He poked Seto's ribs. Seto flinched, but didn't wake up. 'Hmm, maybe a couple more times.' Joey poked the ribs a few more times. He squirmed a bit, and moaned in protest. 'Well, it looks like he is ticklish.' Joey smiled and started an assault on his ribs. Seto squirmed quite a bit before waking up.

"Pup, no. Stop it!" He said in between his laughing.

"I don't know, Seto. You didn't wake up when I kissed you."

"Puppy, please." He asked again while squirming. Joey sighed, but stopped tickling Seto. He sat back and mock pouted. "You're no fun."

Seto smirked and leaned towards Joey. "You know how cute you look right now." Joey just shook his head. "You look very cute." He answered, before taking Joey's lips with his own. They stayed that way for a few minutes, kissing, before the need for that dreaded thing we call air was necessary. Panting slightly, Seto looked into Joey's eyes. "What do you say we get you home?"

"I would love to...but my dad is coming to visit before he leaves." Joey said, looking apologetic.

Seto looked thoughtful, "How about we go home, then we can call him from there? We can arrange to have him come over before he leaves." Joey's eyes widened and he glomped Seto, "That would be great!" Smiling Seto wrapped his arms around his puppy and whispered, "How about we get out of here?" Joey nodded and released Seto. "Okay. I will go sign you out while you change. I brought a pair of clothes for you to wear." He pointed to the bag that he placed in the chair. "I think you will like them." He winked before leaving the room to go sign Joey out.

Joey smiled and grabbed the bag. He opened it and took out the clothes. His shoes, a pair of socks, a pair of jeans and a shirt was in there. He shook out the shirt and looked at the design. "He knows me so well." He said as he put the Red-Eyes Black Dragon T-shirt on, but it seemed to be a bit tight, so it clung to his skin, showing off his well toned muscles. "Hmm, I wonder if he planned it being a bit small..." He grinned and finished getting dressed. Joey decided to sit in a chair and wait for Seto to get back. He leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. He was so happy to be able to go back home with Seto. He smiled to himself.

He had just started to dose off, when he felt a pair of lips on his. "Mmm." He said and opened his eyes, tiredly. "Am I free to go home?" Seto nodded and held out his hand. Joey took it and stood up. "Good." He wrapped his arms around Seto's waist, and laid his head against his chest. "I don't know how much longer I would have been able to stay in here." Seto tucked his finger under Joey's chin and lifted his head so he was looking at him. "Let's go home." He said, and placed a gentle kiss in Joey's lips. Joey just smiled, and took Seto's hand. They left the hospital...Joey had no idea what he was going home to.

Meanwhile...

"Come on guys! We have to get ready!" Yugi shouted. "Seto just called telling us that he was just signing Joey out, then they would be on their way."

Everyone stared at Yugi in complete shock. "What do you mean!?" They all asked at once. "I thought my brother wasn't coming home until later this afternoon?" Serenity asked.

"Seto suggested that they come home earlier. He also said that we should be expecting your dad, Serenity."

Serenity's eyes widened. "Really?" She sounded excited. Even though she knew it was his fault Joey was in the hospital, she really missed him and wanted to see him.

"Hai. In fact, he should be here any minute." As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Yami went and opened the door. "Hello, you must be Joey's father. Come in." He stepped aside, allowing Jonathan to come in.

"Dad!" Serenity shouted, running up and hugging him tightly. "I have missed you so much."

Jonathan hugged her back. "Hi Serenity. I have missed you, too." He pulled back and looked in her eyes. "After this is over, I am hoping to see you more."

"I hope so, too." She moved aside. "Dad, have you met Joey's friends?"

"No, he never brought them over."

"Alright. This is Yami and Yugi." She pointed to Yami, then Yugi. "You can tell the difference because Yami has blonde streaks in his spikes, plus he is taller." She giggled.

Yugi mock glared at her. "Not funny, Serenity." He pretended to cry into Yami's chest.

"Ah, aibou, she was only telling the truth." Yami said, smiling down at him.

Yugi looked up at Yami, grinning. "I know. Anyway," he held out his hand to Jonathan, "pleased to meet you."

Jonathan took his hand, smiling. "Pleasure is mine."

"Now, those two over there," she looked in Malik and Marik's direction, "are Malik and Marik. They are the psycho's."

"Serenity! We are not!" Marik said, and put his palms together, like he was praying. "We are perfect angels." The whole room started laughing. "What?" He turned around and Malik had two fingers up against his head, like they were horns. "Malik!!!"

"Gomen, couldn't resist." He grinned innocently at his yami. Jonathan chuckled and shook his head.

"Now, the two albino's over there are Ryou and Bakura." She pointed in their direction. "Bakura is pretty evil..." she then whispered in her dad's ear, "but he is a softy around Ryou."

Bakura blushed. "I heard that!" Ryou just snickered.

"Now, last, but not least are these four. Honda, Tea, Otagi and Mokuba." She pointed to each of them. "They are basically the normal ones in this group. Mokuba is Seto's younger brother."

"Ah. I owe your brother Mokuba." He said, shaking Mokuba's hand.

"Don't sweat it. Seto would do anything for Joey." Mokuba replied.

Jonathan smiled. "Wow. I don't get why Joey never brought you guys over..." He paused for a minute, then looked down, seeming to figure it out. "Oh, never mind."

"It's alright Mr. Wheeler. We never really thought about why Joey never brought us over." Yugi said with his usual smile. "Right now, we have to get ready. Seto and Joey will be arriving really soon."

"Yea. But, knowing them, they probably told the driver to go slow." Bakura said, grinning. Suddenly there was a door slamming outside. "Then again...." Everyone's eyes went wide, and then they all began to scramble around, looking for a place to hide. When everyone found a place to hide, Mokuba shut the lights off, then went to the door to meet his brother and Joey.

"Hey Seto!" he said when they came through the door. "Hi Joey! How you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks kid." Joey gave Mokuba's hair a little ruffle.

"Yaay! Feel up to getting your butt kicked in some video games?"

"Excuse me? You are the one going to get your butt kicked!" Joey said, heading towards the living room. Seto smiled to himself. He knew Joey would take the bait. After all, he never backed down from a challenge.

"Okay, Mokie. What game do you want to get your butt kicked in?" He asked as he turned on the lights.

"SURPRISE!!!!" Everyone shouted. Joey jumped about 3 feet in the air. "HOLY!! What is going on?" he asked.

Seto walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Joey's waist. "A surprise party, for you." He said. "Welcome home." He then gave Joey a kiss on the cheek and went to sit on the couch.

"S-surprise party? For me?" Joey's eyes were still wide, but when it finally dawned on him, he smiled widely. "Arigato, minna!"

Yugi walked up and gave him a quick hug. "Welcome home, Joey." He then went back to where Yami was sitting and sat in his lap. "Yes, welcome home." Yami said as well.

"S-S-Serenity?" He whispered. Not believing what he was seeing. There his sister was, standing beside his father. She smiled and nodded her head. "Oh my god..." He went up to her and picked her up, hugging her tightly. "I thought you wouldn't be here until Monday?"

"Well, that was the plan. However, I got an interesting phone call asking whether I wanted to come in earlier or not." She winked at Joey. "Of course I said yes."

"Phone call? From who?" He paused for a second, then smiled and mouthed 'Seto?' to his sister. She nodded slightly. He gave her one last hug, before going over and standing in front of Seto. "Seto, why didn't you tell me you brought my sister in?"

Seto smiled "Surprise." Joey grinned. He then proceeded to glomp Seto. "Arigato!" He hugged Seto tightly, lightly kissing him. He then whispered so no one could hear. "You are the best boyfriend in the world." He kissed him deeply. "Thank you." He said again. He made a mental note to make it up to him later...somehow.

Seto placed a kiss on Joey's nose, then whispered back, "Your welcome. I would do anything for you." He hugged Joey, then looked at everyone. "What do you guys think we should do?"

"Well, we could play..." Malik paused, thinking.

"SPIN THE BOTTLE!" Marik finished. Jonathan and the girls coughed.

"Maybe we should play that later...after Joey's dad is gone, love." Malik whispered. He then thought for a moment. "And possibly Honda and Tea at least."

Marik sighed and pulled Malik into his lap. "Fine. How about, 'Truth or Dare'?"

"I suppose I could live with that." Jonathan said. Joey looked at his dad with wide eyes, noticing the little smirk on his father's face. "Sounds like fun."

"Truth or Dare it is." Seto said. "Since Mr. Wheeler is the oldest, he can go first."

"Thanks, Seto." Jonathan replied. "Let's see..." He looked around at the group. "Otagi,"

Otagi looked at him, thinking. "Uh...truth." He replied, a little hesitant.

"Truth, huh." He thought for a moment. "Who was your first kiss with?"

Otagi blushed, Honda was looking at him, curiosity written on his face. "Uh, well, my first kiss..." He looked at Honda, then muttered quietly.

"Pardon?" Honda said.

"You were my first kiss, believe it or not." Otagi replied louder, blushing deeply. "I did my best to avoid all the crazy fangirls...and boys." He shuddered a bit. Honda smiled and kissed Otagi. "I am glad."

"Great. Your turn Otagi." Ryou said.

"Okay...Joey."

"Truth."

"Did you ever have a crush before Seto?"

Joey looked at Seto and smiled, replying. "No." Everyone looked at him. "What? It is true. Ever since he came to our school he has been my crush. I never really paid attention to anyone before that." He moved a strand of Seto's hair. "I have always admired you, and envied." He smiled.

Seto looked at him. Love, adoration, care...all those emotions showing in his eyes as he looked into his beautiful blonde's golden ones. The same emotions showing in them. He pulled Joey down and kissed him passionately. He didn't care if there was a room of people, staring at them. When they pulled back, he whispered, "Aishiteru, pup."

"I love you, too, dragon." He smiled back at Seto.

"Awwww." He heard everyone say. Joey blushed. "So, I suppose it is my turn, huh." Everyone nodded. "Okay, Marik. Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Everyone 'oooh'ed. Joey grinned. "I dare you to kiss Bakura for a full minute."

Marik growled, but moved over to sit beside Bakura. "Okay, go." Marik pressed his mouth against Bakura's. "Okay. Time," Joey said after the minute was up. Marik moved back to Malik and kissed him fully. Everyone just laughed.

"Come on Marik. He tastes good." Ryou said, causing Bakura to blush.

"Not as good as my hikari." Marik replied, holding tightly to Malik. "Anyway, Serenity..."

"Uh, Truth." She didn't trust Marik very much.

"Okay, if you could kiss anyone in this room, who would it be?"

Serenity blushed. Joey looked at her sister curiously. She never told him much. "Well, umm..." she lowered her eyes to the floor, her blush was getting a bit deeper. "Mokuba." She muttered. Everyone's eyes grew wide, but not as wide as Mokuba's. Seto actually laughed at the look on his brother's face. His eyes were wide, but not of horror. He also had a cute blush forming.

"I am flattered, Serenity." He said, looking at the ground.

"Your turn sis." Joey said, with a huge grin on his face. Serenity looked around. "Yami, truth or dare?"

Yami looked at Serenity, "I suppose I can do a dare." Serenity nodded. She thought about it for a minute. "Okay, I dare you to talk dirty to Yugi for 2 minutes, but you have to whisper, you can't talk in his head, and you can't touch him. See if Yugi can resist you." He looked at Serenity strangely. "Ok..." Yami began to talk dirty to Yugi. He didn't see the point, but he was enjoying watching his hikari squirm. 'Maybe I should talk dirty to him more often.' Yami thought to himself.

Yugi, was blushing deeply, and trying to hide his face. He was finding it hard to resist pouncing Yami and kiss him all over. 'Please let the minute be almost up...' He thought to himself. 'If it isn't, I might not last.' As if reading his mind, Serenity called time. "Time's up?" He asked looking over at Serenity. Yami sat back and pouted as Yugi asked. He couldn't believe Yugi lasted. "Yes, Yugi. The time is up." She replied, smiling.

Yugi smiled back and proceeded to pounce on Yami and kiss the living daylights out of him. "I am prepared to take you up on those offers." He whispered, kissing Yami again. Yami grinned, kissing back. "Ahem." They broke apart. "Okay." Yami started, as Yugi sat on his lap. He looked around, "Bakura. Truth or dare?"

Bakura looked at him. "Truth." He didn't want to do a dare quite yet.

"Okay, if you could make love to anyone in this room...and it can't be Ryou...who would you choose?"

Bakura's eyes widened, and he blushed, looking at Ryou. Ryou had a curious expression on his face. He knew he couldn't get out of this one. 'Damn it, should have picked dare.' He looked around. "Uh...I think it would be..." He looked at Otagi, Honda and Tea and shuddered to himself. 'Definitely not them.' He looked at Yami and Yugi. 'Quite possible, they are pretty hot. Hmm.' He looked over at Malik and Marik. 'Too rough.' He looked at Joey and Seto. 'They are both pretty hot...Seto I think. Joey just seems too innocent...much like my hikari...' He smiled as his thought trailed off and replied easily, "Joey."

Joey blushed lightly and hid his face in Seto's neck. "Any reason why?" Asked Yami.

"He reminds me a lot of Ryou." Bakura replied, pulling Ryou into his lap and kissing his cheek. "Innocent, sweet and cute." Ryou kissed Bakura lightly.

"Thanks, Bakura." Joey said, flattered. "It is your turn."

"Seto, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Same question Joey was asked. Did you ever have a crush before him"

"If I saw him first, no." He said, not looking at anybody.

"Who was your first crush?" Joey asked, looking curious now.

Seto blushed and whispered a name to Joey. "You're kidding me..." He said, surprised. Seto just blushed a bit deeper. "Aww."

"But don't worry, once you came into the picture, I forgot all about him...figuratively speaking, and couldn't take my mind off of you." Everyone was looking at them in confusion.

"Well are you going to tell everyone else?" Yugi asked, very curious now.

Seto was the one who blushed a bit deeper and hid his face in Joey's chest, shaking his head. "Uh, you guys don't have to know." Joey said, nodding his head in Yami's direction. Yugi's eyes widened, and he smirked. Joey smiled and beckoned Yugi over. When Yugi was close enough, Joey whispered to him. "Just don't tell anyone, okay?" Yugi nodded. "I promise. I won't even tell him." Joey smiled and wrapped his arms around Seto, as Yugi went and sat in Yami's lap, cuddling close to him. "Seto, it's your turn."

Seto brought his head up and looked around. "Mr. Wheeler. Truth or dare."

"I thought you would never ask." He looked at his watch, "but this is the last time, cause I have to get going. Dare."

"Okay. I dare you to..." Seto thought for a moment. "I dare you to dress up like a girl and sing the first verse of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'." Everyone started to laugh.

"Gladly, just...where are the girls clothes?" Jonathan asked, smiling.

"I have some clothes dad." Serenity said, jumping up. "Be right back." She dashed up the stairs.

"Well...can't say this won't be interesting." Joey said, grinning over at his dad.

"That is for sure." He replied back, just as Serenity came down the stairs, handing over a blouse and skirt. "They are too big for me anyway."

Jonathan took the clothes and went to the bathroom and changed. When he came back, the skirt came just below his knees and the blouse was a bit short. He walked to the center of the room and began to see. "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. A Yankee Doodle, do or die. A real live nephew of my uncle Sam's, Born on the fourth of July. I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart. She's my Yankee Doodle joy. Yankee Doodle came to London, Just to ride the ponies. I am a Yankee Doodle boy." He finished. Everyone clapped, laughing hard. "Thank you, thank you...I am here until I change." Jonathan said, bowing. "Okay, now, I really should go. The plane leaves in an hour. Right, Seto?" Seto nodded. "Okay. Be right back." He left for the bathroom to change back into his clothes.

Joey kissed Seto. "Thanks again, Seto." He wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, looking into the blue eyes. Seto hugged Joey. "I would do anything for you, pup."

"And you better take good care of him while I am gone, too." Jonathan said, coming into the room. "As well as Serenity."

Seto actually allowed someone to see him smile. "Don't worry, I will." He tightened his hold on Joey.

Jonathan walked up to Serenity. "Well, I guess I won't see you for a while." He said. "Look after yourself okay?"

"Don't worry dad. I will." She gave him a hug. "I think it is Joey you should worry about."

"Yea, you are right."

"Hey!" Joey yelled, protesting. "I can take care of myself."

"But you won't have to, because I am here." Seto said, smiling.

"I can live with that." Joey smiled. Sighing, he got up off of Seto's lap and walked up to his dad. "I suppose I will see you in about a year?"

"Yea, I will try to come home for Christmas, but no promises."

"Okay." They walked to the door. "Well, I will see you." He embraced his dad. "Take care of yourself over there."

Jonathan returned the hug. "Don't worry sun. I will be fine." By this time, Seto had come up behind them. "All of your stuff has been taken to the airport. My jet will leave when you get there."

"Thanks again, Seto." Jonathan said, shaking his hand. "I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you."

"You allowing me to see Joey is more than enough." He said, going behind Joey and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Here." He took out an envelope and handed it over to Jonathan. "Until you get a job, and a decent income."

Jonathan took the envelope. "Thank you so much." Seto just smiled. "Well, I guess I am off." He opened the door. "Ja ne, minna! It was nice meeting you all." He heard a chorus of 'Good-byes'. "Bye Joey." He shut the door and got into the awaiting limo.

Joey watched him leave. "I am going to miss him." He said. Seto kissed the back of his neck. "Don't worry, pup. You will see him again." Joey sighed. "You are right." He smiled and turned towards everyone. "So, what is the next game?"

--------------

Kiawna: breathes in...breathes out Phoo. Finally finished. Yaay! And now that I didn't do anything in the beginning, it is all here.

Orli: Finally! Quick, someone put a mark on the wall.

Kiawna: ¬.¬ Very funny.

Orli: grins Gotta admit...it is true.

Kiawna: sighs You are right. Wish to tell them when the next chapter will be up?

Orli: About the next chapter...right now, she is over whelmed with schoolwork. She has 2 provincials in three weeks. Before those provincials however, she has 2 biology tests and most likely an English test. So, she will have absolutely NO time to write, until mid-June sometime.

Kiawna: Thank you. Yami, do you wish to do the rest?

Yami: . . . . . . .

Kiawna: Yami? pokes him

Orli: Why do you bother?

Kiawna: sighs I don't know. Seto? Joey?

Seto: Sure.

Joey: You mean, you are actually letting us do something...and not Yami?

Kiawna: points to Yami who is on the floor, grinning, but unconcious Maybe I should stop writing stuff about Yugi and him kissing...he always seems to go like this.

Yami: snaps out of whatever he was in No! Don't do that!

Everyone: O.O

Seto: Uh...still want us to do the review?

Kiawna: Hai. Yami do the disclaimer.

Yami: Kiawna does NOT own us, or any of the YGO characters...or the show or cards. Well, she owns a few cards that are okay...I still have to teach her to duel properly...

Kiawna: YAMI!

Yami: Gomen! Yea, she is currently organizing a group for fans that wish to own it. Yes, she is willing to share. However, we are very worried if she does finally own the show...

Kiawna; Thank you!! Now for the review...

Joey: Okay, we all know you want her to update.

Seto: Yea, I mean, how could you not? More of me.

Joey: And me!

Seto: Plus! We will give you the title of the next chapter.

Joey: And that is..."Wow, "Spin-the-Bottle' with a group of guys. Is there anything better?"

Seto: If it will fit. But it does have to do with Spin-the-Bottle.

Joey: leans to Seto And I can't wait. 

Seto: Me either. So even though she won't be able to update for at least a month, review anyway so she WILL update.

Kiawna: Thank you. gives them both a cookie and puts a plate out for the readers

Joey: COOKIES!!! pounces towards the cookies

Kiawna: Bad Joey! Those are for the readers! No biscuit for you!

Seto: gives Joey his cookie Don't yell at him.

Kiawna: sighs Review!


	10. A Silly Game, For Most People

Ki: ::hides from reviewers:: Please don't harm me. I REALLY wanted to get this up sooner, but I had major writers block. And Orli wasn't helping. --

Chapter 10: A Silly Game...For most people

Everyone just stared at Marik. "What?" He asked innocently and stared back. "I think it will be a fun game to play."

"Er...you may think that, but we don't." Serenity said, indicating herself and Tea. "We would go to the mall, but I don't have any money right now."

Joey looked at her and grinned, "Aww, come on, sis. You know you want to hang around and watch a bunch of guys kissing each other. Or, join in on the kissing."

Serenity gave her brother a horrified look. "No way!" She glanced at Mokuba and her expression changed. _'It wouldn't be bad if the bottle pointed to him.' _She thought.

Seto snickered and pulled out his wallet. "Here, Serenity." He handed her quite a bit of cash. "Take Mokuba with you, I don't think he wants to be here either." He gave her a little wink and she blushed a bit.

"Arigato, Seto. " She replied and took the cash and turned to Mokuba. "Coming?" She asked with a smile. The tiniest of blushes spread across his cheeks, but he nodded and went to put his shoes and jacket on.. "Alright. You guys enjoy your game." She said, and followed Mokuba, with Tea behind her.

Once the door shut, signaling that the three of them had left, Bakura spoke up. "Well, lets get this show on the road." He said, with a giant grin. Seto rolled his eyes, but got up, to the disappointment of Joey who was on his lap, and got the bottle. When he returned, the rest of the group had moved the coffee table and were sitting in a circle. He sat between Joey and Yami, putting the bottle in the middle.

"So, who is going first?" Otagi asked from his spot between Ryou and Tristen.

"Since I suggested it, I think I should go first." Marik said. No one objected. "Great." He said, "Now, if the bottle points to you, you have to kiss for a minute."

"A minute is too long." Tristen protested. "Thirty seconds."

"I agree with Marik, Tristen." Ryou said. "One minute isn't too long."

"Exactly." Bakura said from beside his hikari. "Although, I would say even a minute is too short."

"One minute is long enough." Seto growled, putting an arm possessively around his puppy, which made Joey grin and lean into him.

"Fine, one minute then." Bakura pouted.

"Can I go now?" Marik asked, irritably. When everyone nodded, he grabbed the bottle and gave it a spin. It spun, and spun until it finally stopped. Marik looked up into blue eyes. "Well, you did agree to one minute." He said with an evil grin.

"Damn it." The CEO replied. "Fine. Someone better time, so it doesn't go past a minute."

"I'll time." Yami said. Marik moved to sit beside the blue eyed CEO. "Go." Marik quickly captured Seto's lips. Bakura may like the kind gentle type, but he liked the 'in charge' type and wanted to make the most of his kiss with Seto. He was just about to request entry when Yami's voice stopped him and the CEO quickly pulled away and captured Joey's lips.

"Why did I agree to this game?" He asked, when he pulled away from Joey. Joey smirked and then whispered something into his ear, which made Seto blush and reply "It never crossed my mind." Joey just placed grinned and placed a soft kiss against his lips. "I know, your turn."

Seto grabbed the bottle and gave it a small spin. It did one and a half-spins, landing on Otagi. The two CEO's stared at each other, before Seto gave a defeated sigh and moved next to him. When Yami gave the signal, he hesitantly leant forward. Otagi decided to meet him half way, placing his lips gently against the other CEO's. They never said it had to be a rough, intimate kiss. Yami said when time was up and Seto moved back to his seat without a word.

Otagi then spun the bottle, a little harder than Seto had. It finally finished spinning and Otagi moved beside Joey. The little growl that Seto gave made him grin. _'He really is like a dragon.' _He thought and pressed his lips, once again lightly, against Joey's when Yami said go. He was surprised when Joey briefly pressed his lips a bit harder against his. But that was all it was, was briefly. Yami gave the times up call and they pulled away, Otagi returned to his spot.

"Geez...everyone is so quiet." Malik commented.

"Not much to say." Ryou replied. "Joey, it's your turn."

"Alright." Joey said and spun the bottle. Joey looked at Bakura once the bottle stopped spinning. "Now you get to see if I taste like Ryou." He said with a wink.

"Joey!" Both Seto and Ryou cried. Joey just snickered, while Bakura gave an evil grin.

"Ne, can I go all out on this one guys?" Bakura asked Seto and Ryou.

"Hmph, I'd rather you didn't. But, since it is just a game and means nothing, go right ahead." Seto said, while pouting a bit. Ryou just nodded his agreement.

"Thanks." Bakura said, before grabbing Joey and pulling him to a deep, meaningless kiss, before Yami even said go. Everyone just stared, jaws hanging down. He was serious when he said 'all out'. No one was even paying attention to the time. That is, until Seto cleared his throat and said "I think the minute is long gone."

They both pulled away, panting. Bakura smiled and winked at Joey, "Nope, not as good as my hikari." He said before turning to Ryou and kissing him. Joey just grinned and did the same with Seto. "Mmm, much better."

"I agree." Bakura said before spinning the bottle. It did a few turns before finally landing on Malik. "Nothing new." He replied, before moving from his spot between Joey and Ryou to sit in front of Malik. Once again, Yami said go and they started to kiss. It was the same type of kiss that they had just seen, but it wasn't new to them. Malik, Marik, Ryou and Bakura were all very close.

While those two were kissing, Joey crawled over to Yugi and whispered something to him. "You sure?" Yugi asked Joey when he was finished talking. Joey just smiled and nodded. Yugi grinned, "Okay, I will tell him."

"Thanks Yug." He said before moving back to his seat.

"What was that all about?" Seto asked when Yami said time.

"Uh, I'll tell you in a bit." Joey said while looking over Seto's shoulder at Yugi whispering to Yami. He grinned at Yami's reaction. He didn't think someone's eyes could go so big. It took a while, but Yami finally nodded. _'Good.' _Joey thought. _'I think Seto should be able to go 'all out', as Bakura put it earlier, on something. Besides, it doesn't mean anything."_

Next was Malik's turn. Things couldn't have gone better if Joey had planned it. The bottle landed on Yami. This time Yugi timed. It was another small kiss. Joey didn't think a minute was that long. He was relieved when Yugi said time and Yami spun the bottle. "Come on..." He said under his breath. He nearly jumped with joy when it landed on Seto. He leaned over to Seto and whispered to him. "Go all out on this one, babe. It's only fair."

Seto's eyes widened, "You sure, pup?" Joey placed a light kiss on his lips and nodded. "Yami won't mind, neither will Yugi." He winked at Seto, "I already asked." Seto just smirked and turned towards Yami. Yugi said 'Go' and they both met each other half way.

Joey grinned at the site before him. Yeah, Seto was his boyfriend. No, it didn't bother him that he was kissing an old crush. Why? For many reasons; one, Yami was one of his best friends and he trusted him. Two, he trusted Seto and thirdly, Seto allowed him to kiss Bakura earlier. Why should Joey doubt Seto? Besides, Yugi trusted them both as well...of course, Yugi trusted everyone, but that was beside the point. He glanced at Yugi, who wasn't watching the watch, but staring wide-eyed at Yami and Seto. Smiling at his friend, he cleared his throat. "You two going to come up for air any time soon?" He joked.

Both Yami and Seto broke a part, blushing. They looked at each other then turned to their respected boyfriends and kissed them passionately.

"Uh, guys? Can we get on with the game?" Marik asked with a bored tone.

"Yea, we can." Joey said, once he Seto had finished kissing him. "Your turn, Seto."

"Right." Seto nodded and spun the bottle. He watched as it continued to spin. When it finally finished, he stared into the chocolate brown eyes of Ryou. "Well, who's timing?" When Yugi said he was, Seto moved to sit beside Ryou.

"No funny business, Kaiba." Bakura growled.

"None." Seto promised and kissed Ryou gently when Yugi said go. To him, it was almost like kissing Joey. Ryou's lips were soft and gentle. However, it still didn't compare to Joey's kisses. When Yugi told them time was up, he pulled away from Ryou and took his seat.

"Guys, this is getting kind of boring." Honda said. "Maybe we should play a different game, or get food."

"I agree." Bakura said, pulling Ryou into his lap, almost possessively.

"Food!" Joey cried excitedly. "That hospital food was bad. I hope I never have to eat it again."

Seto chuckled a bit at the outburst. "What do you guys want to do? We can stay in and order a few pizzas, or go out? My treat."

"Mmm, pizza." Joey said, almost drooling. "I vote for pizza, I don't feel like leaving the house." He snuggled closer to Seto. "I'm comfy."

"Me, too." Ryou replied, also snuggling closer to Bakura. "I agree with pizza."

Yugi nodded, trying to stiffle a yawn. "I'm kind of tired too. I don't feel like going out either." He leaned his head on Yami's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I vote for ordering pizza."

Yami smiled and did as Bakura did and pulled Yugi into his lap so he was comfier. "I guess we are staying in for pizza."

Marik looked at the clock on the table. "But how many places are open at 10 o'clock at night?"

"Ten o'clock?!" Tristan cried out, getting to his feet. "Man, my parents are going to kill me. I told them I would be home by 9."

"Didn't you tell them it was a sleepover?" Malik asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tristan looked around the room. "Uhm, I did. But, they didn't want me to stay over." Everyone just looked at him oddly. "It's true. I still have homework."

"Dude, winter break just started. There is plenty of time before school starts again to do your homework." Joey reminded him. "I can't believe you are thinking about homework."

Otagi stood up next to his boyfriend. "I should go, too. I do have some work to do as well before Christmas."

Joey sighed and shrugged. "Fine then. But you will miss out on the pizza."

"It's alright, buddy. I think we will survive."

"Okay." Joey got off Seto's lap and walked to the door with them. "I guess I will talk to you guys soon then." He glanced over at the rest and then turned back to them and whispered. "Maybe we can talk about a Christmas party."

The two of them nodded as they put on their jackets and shoes. "Okay, see ya." They said and walked out the door, leaving Joey shivering from the gust of wind that had entered the house from the open door. When he shut the door, he ran over to the group and snuggled up to Seto. "Nice and warm."

Seto just rolled his eyes. "You know, pup, it is very hard to order pizza when I can't get to the phone."

"I'll order it!" Marik said, jumping and running to the phone.

Malik sighed, "I'll order it, don't worry." He left after Marik to order the pizza.

"They don't even know what we want." Yami said, being careful not to wake the now sleeping Yugi. The rest nodded agreement and got up to go and tell Malik what to order.

---------

Ki: I know! Very short chapter. I am sorry! ::bows to the readers:: I promise the next one will be longer. And since I have time on my hands, I should be able to update sooner. So long as Orli helps me.

Orli: Yea, yea.

Ki: Anyway, review please! I love you all!


	11. Pizza and a Movie or 3

Ki: Yay! The 11th chapter is up! ::dances:: I'm sorry it isn't as long as the other chapters, but I am very slowly running out of ideas.

Orli: You could always go and rewrite the first few chapters so the POV's aren't so bad.

Ki: ::sweat:: I could. I probably should. Besides, it will refresh my memory as to what the original plot was. ;; ::shifty eyes::

Orli: Oh boy…

Ki: Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 11: Pizza and a Movie or 3

Seto looked at everyone standing around the phone arguing about what types of pizza to get. Malik and Marik was saying Salami, Anchovies, and Sardines, which got a huge 'no' from everyone, including Joey. Yami, since Yugi had dozed off, offered Yugi's favorite pizza, green peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni. Everyone agreed to that. Ryou and Bakura suggested ham, pineapple and shrimp, which everyone also agreed to. Finally, Joey suggested black olives, salami and pepperoni. "Can we get extra large pizzas, Set? Please? We need cold pizza for breakfast." He said, getting agreements from the rest of the guys.

"Alright, I will order 3 extra large pizzas." Seto replied, and picked up the phone. "Go choose a movie and put it on while I order them."

"Thanks, Seto." Joey said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, guys." Everyone, except Yami, followed Joey to the living room. It consisted of a big screen television with surround sound, dvd player and vcr, stereo, and a bookshelf full of DVD's and videos. The furniture in the room was a black leather couch with matching chair and loveseat. The couch was directly across from the TV, while the loveseat was to its right and the chair, which could fit 2 small people, was to its left. There was a huge space in the middle where a coffee table could easily sit. However, the coffee table was pushed off to one side and blankets and pillows were piled in the middle.

"I guess everyone grabs a pillow and blanket and picks a spot to sleep." Ryou said, going to grab two pillows and blankets. "Bakura and I will take the loveseat."

"Ooh." Marik said, taunting them. "How sweet."

"Ah, shut it, Marik." Malik said, pulling Marik over to the chair where he had placed their blankets and pillows. Joey snickered and put Yami and Yugi's stuff on the couch, then made a spot on the floor for Seto and himself.

"I always wonder why Yugi gets so tired, so early." Ryou commented, when Yami walked in the room carrying Yugi.

"He wanted to get his projects done before the break, so he hasn't been getting much sleep lately." Yami explained, sitting down and lying Yugi on the couch beside him. He then put a pillow against his lap so that Yugi could be comfortable.

"Have you guys decided on a movie yet?" Seto asked, walking into the room. "Pizza will be here in a half hour." He added seeing that Joey had opened his mouth.

"How did you know I was going to ask that?"

"I know you, pup. Almost everything out of your mouth is about food." Seto replied, walking up to him. Joey just stuck out his bottom lip in a cute pout. Seto chuckled a bit and wrapped his arms around Joey's waist and whispered something in his ear. Joey turned red and attempted to hide his face in the crook of Seto's neck. Everyone just looked at them with an odd expression on their faces. "Never mind." He told them and went to the movies. "What does everyone want to watch?"

"Lord of the Rings!" Was the instant reply from everyone.

"Which one?"

"All of them. We can have a marathon." Ryou stated.

"I doubt any of us will be able to stay up all night watching them." Seto replied back in a matter of fact tone. "All three of them will be at the least 12 hours. It won't be over until 10am in the morning!"

"Aww, come on Seto." Joey said and put on his best 'puppy dog' look. "Please?"

Seto looked away and tried to ignore him, but he soon felt arms around his waist, lips on his neck, then a low 'please' in his ear. He sighed in defeat. If he didn't, Joey would probably continue to try and convince him, and that would only end up with Seto ravishing him. _'I don't_ _think the others would want to watch that.' _He thought and put five of the discs in. "Alright, but how many are actually going to watch it and how many are going to just sit and make out?" He asked, thinking it was a good point. He looked at each of them, "well?"

"I'm going to watch." Malik and Ryou said at the same time. Yami nodded his agreement. Seto sighed again and put in the first disc of the _Fellowship of the Ring._ He didn't quite press play yet because the doorbell rang. "I'll be right back." He said and left the room.

Once Seto left, Marik and Bakura gave Joey thumbs up. "Nice way to get him to give in, Joey." Bakura said. Joey just rubbed the back of his head. "It was nothing." He replied.

"Ne, Joey?" Joey turned to look at Yami. "What did he whisper to you earlier?" Joey turned red again and mumbled something. "What?"

"Er, never mind. I'll tell you later." He replied, looking over at Bakura and Marik leaning forward to hear better.

"Aww, you're no fun, Joey." Marik pouted, sitting back in the chair.

"I don't think so." Seto said, bringing in the pizzas. "I think he is a lot of fun." He winked at Joey who had gone a deep red. "Here." He laid the pizzas on the coffee table. "I don't think we need to save any for Serenity and Mokuba, because they have probably already eaten."

"They probably went to a movie, too." Joey said, grabbing a slice from each box. "That's why they aren't back yet."

"Probably." Malik said, then turned to Yami. "You going to wake him, Pharaoh?"

Yami nodded, "yes, he hasn't eaten since lunch." He leaned down and shook Yugi's shoulder gently. "Yugi. Pizza is here." He shook him again, "Love?"

"Kiss him, Yami." Ryou said, "I always get up when Bakura kisses me."

Yami leaned down and brushed his lips gently over Yugi's. He heard Yugi moan lightly, but he just rolled onto his side. Yami continued to place kisses over his cheek, then slowly up to Yugi's ear. Making sure that his lips brushed his ear with each word, Yami whispered, "Aibou, time to get up. You need to eat."

"'M tired, Yami." Yugi mumbled and snuggled against Yami. Yami just brushed the hair out of Yugi's face and gave him a bit deeper kiss. "Eat, then sleep if you want." Yugi yawned and slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" he asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes and stretching.

"Eleven o'clock." Malik answered. "Pizza just got here and we were about to start an LotR marathon."

Yugi perked up. "Lord of the Rings? Why didn't you tell me, Yami?" Everyone blinked at Yugi, who was just refusing to wake up, and was now suddenly wide-awake. "Why you all staring at me like that?"

Everyone just started laughing. "You're so cute, aibou." Yami said, giving Yugi a quick peck on the cheek and got up to get his pizza. Yugi just stared at everyone confused. He eventually shrugged it off and went and got his pizza.

Once everyone else was sitting down, Joey asked, "shall we start?" When everyone agreed, he turned off the lights and sat next to Seto who started the movie.

The prologue began with a woman's voice, explaining the origin of the One Ring. Seto sat with one arm around Joey, who snuggled up against his side. He had to admit, now that he had seen all three, the beginning of the first seemed kind of boring. There wasn't much action. The action didn't _really_ start until Weathertop. He looked around at the rest of the couples. Marik and Bakura were making out already, and it wasn't even past the prologue. He looked behind him; Yami and Yugi were snuggling a bit, but were keen on watching the movie. To his left, Bakura was kissing along Ryou's neck, but Ryou was too busy watching the movie to notice…least, that is what it looked like to Seto.

Seto sighed; he didn't want to start paying attention to the movie until near the end of the first disc. He looked at Joey, who was trying to stifle a yawn. _'I wonder if he is thinking the same thing I am?' _He thought to himself. He bent down and started to kiss along Joey's ear, then down his jaw to his neck. He smirked a tiny bit when he heard a very low, 'Mmm.' He felt Joey tilt his neck to one side, exposing more of his neck to him. Seto bit down lightly where neck met shoulder and sucked. He wanted people to know that Joey was taken and no one could have him. He began to kiss his way back up Joey's neck, and around his face, purposefully missing his lips. He kissed up the jaw line to Joey's ear and whispered, "Mine." Making sure his lips brushed lightly against the ear.

Joey shivered a bit. "Mmm, yours." He agreed and moved his head so he could kiss Seto. The movie was only at Bilbo's party last time he saw he hadn't been paying much attention once Seto started his administrations. Sure, he loved _Lord of the Rings_, but most of the first disc of _The Fellowship of the Ring_, was pretty boring. He would make sure he paid more attention once they got to Weathertop. He brought Seto's lips to his. He eagerly opened his mouth when he felt the gentle rasp of Seto's tongue on his lips. Their tongues battled for dominance, which was eventually won by Seto. Joey just massaged and caressed Seto's tongue with his own. This went on for a bit before they both reluctantly pulled away for air.

Seto looked into Joey's amber eyes. '_He really is hot like that.' _Seto thought. Joey's hair was all messed up and he was panting lightly from the kiss. _'If he didn't just get out of the hospital, it wasn't a sleepover, and the movie wasn't just getting interesting, I would drag him upstairs and ravish him there.'_ He pulled Joey into his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist and gave him a light kiss before paying attention to the movie.

Yami watched Joey snuggle against Seto when they had finished making out. He looked over to his aibou, who was practically on the edge of his seat, watching the Nazgul go after Frodo on Weathertop. He smiled fondly at his other half. Yugi was cute, no doubt about it. He was also innocent. Everything he, Yami, was not. Yami didn't have the innocence of his hikari. That is why he was the dark and Yugi was the light. _'So much I want to do and say, but I won't.' _Yami thought. Sure, they were dating and made it to kissing, but Yami wasn't going to push Yugi past that. He didn't want to corrupt him.

Yugi was frustrated. So far, throughout the movie, Yami had done nothing. Just sat there and watched the movie. His thoughts, unbeknownst to him, agreed with Seto's. The first disc was boring up till Weathertop. He had the feeling that was everyone's thoughts, because before this, everyone else was kissing! However, not Yami and himself, they were _actually_ watching the whole thing. _'This is crazy.' _He thought. _'Maybe I have been to convincing about watching the movie that Yami didn't want to disturb me.'_ He sighed. He loved the next part, when Frodo got stabbed. He wasn't scared, but he loved to use this part as an excuse to glomp onto Yami and hide his face in his shirt. Yugi smiled to himself and when the Witch King brought the knife up to stab Frodo, he jumped into Yami's lap and hid his face in the crook of Yami's neck. He knew he must have scared him out of his thoughts, because he felt him jump slightly.

Yami looked down at Yugi, holding on tightly to him. He was so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed that it was Yugi's least favorite part of the movie. Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi and whispered things in his ear. He leaned back into the couch and held Yugi tightly. "Yugi, it's okay. How many times have you seen this?" Yami asked his look a like.

Yugi looked up at Yami. "About 10 times." He replied innocently. "Why?"

"It's just that every time this part come up, you turn away and hide your face in my shirt." Yami answered. _'Not that I mind.'_ He added.

"You don't mind do you?" Yugi asked.

"No! Of course not." Yami replied, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Good." Yugi replied, and kissed Yami more boldly than he has ever done. Yami didn't know how to respond. This wasn't like Yugi. Aibou? He asked uncertainly through their mind link. Yugi just responded, less talk, more kiss. Ask question's later. Yami smirked inwards and responded to Yugi's kiss. Maybe his little light wasn't so innocent after all…

Bakura looked at Yami and Yugi with a scowl on his face. He then looked over at his hikari, who was totally absorbed in the movie. He had tried plenty to get his attention, but he just wasn't paying attention. _'Humph, how dare he ignore me.' _He thought. This was never his favorite part of the movie. He didn't really get into it until the first battle at Moria. That was where all the action was happening, but that was a while away yet. They had just made it to Rivendell. _'And I haven't got so much as a glance from Ryou.'_ This night was really starting to suck.

Joey got off Seto's lap and went to get more pizza. Joey just grabbed the Pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper box and a couple cans of Coke and brought them back to his place. "Here, I grabbed you a drink." He whispered, handing one of the cans of Coke over to Seto, then sitting back in his lap and grabbing a piece of pizza. "You can have a piece or two if you want."

Seto gave Joey a quick kiss. "Thanks, pup." He said then grabbed a piece of pizza. He turned around to see if anyone else wanted a piece, but Yami and Yugi were making out, and Bakura was sitting, pouting in his spot. No doubt disappointed that Ryou was more into the movie than he was in him. Seto just shrugged and went back to watching everyone arguing over the ring. _'It's a good thing I have a five disc dvd player.' _He thought. Once the first disc was finished, he decided he was going to take everything to the kitchen and put the stuff in the fridge, as well as look at the time. It has been a while since Mokuba and Serenity left for the mall. Although, he was sure that they had gone to dinner and a movie.

He heard a few chuckles, which brought him out of his thoughts. The disc had just ended. He sighed, and pushed Joey a bit, telling him he had to get up. "I'm going to put the pizza away." He explained when Joey started to pout. "I'll be back, but while I am putting the stuff away, could you set up our sleeping area? I want to lie down for the next part. Sitting for too long can get really sore on the ass."

"Alright." Joey replied and watched Seto take everything out to the kitchen. He placed the pillows against the couch and laid out the blankets. He made sure to put the remote for the TV and DVD near where Seto was going to be lying. Joey looked around and noticed that everyone else was making their 'beds' as well. He tried to hold in a laugh as he watched Marik and Malik try to work out how they were going to lie the chair. They eventually decided to put the pillows against one arm and then lay across the chair. That worked because the chair was wide both ways. It almost worked as a love seat. He lay down, covering himself with one of the blankets.

"Is anyone getting tired?" Yugi asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Not me." Everyone else said.

"You can sleep if you wish, Yugi." Yami said.

Yugi looked at him as if he were crazy; he even voiced it. "Are you crazy? This is Lord of the Rings! I can't sleep, that would be nuts."

"Maybe for you," Seto came in, "I think I might just fall asleep." He lay down beside Joey, wrapping his arms around him. "I'm tired, personally."

"Make sure someone knows where the controller is, if you fall asleep." Bakura said. "As well as where the last disc for the movie is."

"Joey knows where everything is."

"But who knows if I will still be awake."

"Then I will do it!" Yugi said, not believing what he was hearing. "I can't believe you guys are planning on sleeping during LotR, that is just odd."

Everyone chuckled. "So passionate over a movie." Marik teased. Yugi blushed a bit. "Is he like this in bed too, Pharaoh?"

Yami blushed and mumbled something in audible and tightened his hold on his hikari.

"Don't worry, you aren't the only one who wants to watch the whole thing." Bakura spoke up.

"That's right." Ryou answered. "I plan on watching it all."

"Me too." Malik replied.

"Good." Yugi said, taking the remote. "I will take out the first one now, that way I won't have to get up and disturb you two if you fall asleep." He walked past them and changed discs. All the while mumbling things like "disrespect great movies…sleep during them. Unbelievable."

Joey chuckled at his little friends ranting. "Just tell Mokuba and Serenity to go to bed if they ever decide to come in tonight."

"We heard that, big brother!" A voice called from the hall.

"Mokuba! Where have you guys been?" Seto asked, not moving from his position on the floor.

"We went to dinner, then a movie." Mokuba answered, yawning.

"We stayed at the mall even after Tea left." Serenity explained. "We got out of the mall at 10pm, went to grab a bite to eat, then got the last showing of a movie. I forget the title of it though." She tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. "We were going to go to bed anyway."

"Good." Joey said, leaning against Seto. "Good night you two."

"Night, big brothers!" They said at the same time, then ran up the stairs before the other two could register exactly what they said.

"Did they say 'brothers'?" Joey asked, looking confusedly at Seto.

"I think they did…" Seto replied, just as confused.

Malik chuckled a bit. "The only way that you each would be a brother to the others sibling is if you got married."

Both Seto and Joey's eyes widened. They looked at each other, then quickly turned away, each with a blush on his cheeks.

"Can I start the second part of the movie, now?" Yugi asked, sounding annoyed.

"Yes, aibou, you may." Yami said, wrapping his arms around Yugi and cuddling against him while still being able to watch the movie. Yugi started the second disc of the trilogy.

Approximately 10 and a half hours later…

Yugi yawned and looked around the room. Everyone had fallen asleep. He knew Joey and Seto fell asleep not too far into the second movie. Ryou and Malik were sleeping with their heads on each of their yami's chest. Yami was using the back of the couch as a head rest to sleep, he made it through the second movie, but fell asleep at the beginning of the third. He knew Bakura and Marik were slowly going around the middle of the movie. He wasn't sure when they finally gave in to sleep.

He yawned again, and eased Yami down so he was in a comfier position and he lay down beside him. Yugi felt Yami wind his arm around his waist and hold him there. "Yami?" Yugi whispered, wondering if Yami was awake. Yami gave no response. His breaths were even. 'He's still asleep.' Yugi smiled at his yami. He was so peaceful and beautiful when he was asleep…not that he wasn't beautiful when he was awake. Yugi leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Yami's lips, whispering: "I love you, Yami." He laid down beside Yami and closed his eyes, wondering as he fell asleep if he would ever be able to tell those three words to him when he was awake.

Ki: There, finished on chapter 11.

Orli: Good.

Ki: Now, warning now…Ch. 12 won't be up for a while. I am going to do Orli's suggestion and go over the previous chapters. And when I update those (if I feel I must) I will update to chapter 12. I'm hoping to only have 15 chapters. But we will see where it goes from here. Thank you all my beautiful readers. ::brings out a whole lot of mini plushie YGO characters:: Take your pick! I have at least 20 of each character. Please limit it to one of each per reviewer. Thank you! ::glomps and huggles all her reviewers:: Please review this chapter as well.

Orli: . . . o.O She needs help. . .


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